Notes from Citizens for Maryland Libraries 2007 Annual Conference, including Cathy De Rosa on an OCLC report...

...that is expected to be released in February 2008 titled, "From Awareness to Funding... A National Program. A Study of Library Support in the United States."

On Saturday, November 3, I had the chance to attend the 2007 Annual Conference of the Maryland Library Trustees and Citizens for Maryland Libraries. It was held at the Doubletree Hotel Annapolis. I just joined Citizens for Maryland Libraries (CML) this summer, so it was a great first opportunity to see what the organization was all about.

At the core of the meeting there were three presentations. Here are a few highlights from each.


Sharan Marshall, Director, Southern Maryland Regional Library Association (SMRLA):
Advocacy and Statewide Surveys

Sharan provided an overview of the results from the 2006 Maryland Public Library Survey: Customer Survey of Maryland Residents About Libraries. An earlier survey was also done in 2003. Potomac Incorporated carried out the 2003 and 2006 surveys. Both final reports can be found on the SMRLA web site at http://access-somd.org/mdlibsurvey/.

She was thankful that SMRLA was given funding by DLDS/MSDE to lead the survey. A bit intent of the surveys has been to better work with our elected officials to inform them of the benefits of libraries in their communities.

When compared to other local services, the grading of public libraries came out at the top with a 49% rating at an "A" grade. This was much higher than any other public service, including schools. We want to showcase that public libraries are very well regarded. We have tried to use this information to inform public officials to understand how well regarded libraries are in their communities. See p. 2-9 of the 2006 Final Report. 68% of respondents rated public libraries as an essential service.

The survey also rated people's familiarity with services of their public libraries (see p. 2-14).
Borrow/check out books: 54%
Use the Internet: 53% (a big jump up from the previous survey in 2003)
Bring a child for homework or a program: 14%
Research/Find reference information: 15%
Get information (forms, brochures, newspapers): 9%
Community activities: 8%

The Economic Development Impact of public libraries was addressed by the survey (see p. 2-19), as well as Public Library Funding (see p. 2-23). 88% of people think that public libraries are a good investment of tax dollars.

The goal now is to make as many people aware of the survey results as possible, including all of the key players in Maryland government, including the governor; president of the senate; speaker of the house; the general assembly and specific committees such as Budget & Taxation, Ways & Means, Appropriations; county officials and their staff; and everyone in the room! We are using data from the surveys to make the case that libraries are vital to the economic development in our communities.


Kathleen Reif, Director, St. Mary's County Library:
Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose, & Persuasion!

Kathleen first provided some background regarding the development of the toolkit. In 2004 PLA assembled the @your library Taskforce, made up of mostly marketing/publicity people from libraries around the country.

PLA’s strategic plan was created. The BHAG (Big Hairy Audatious Goal): Make the library card the most valued card in every wallet. PLA hired research firm, KRC, to help develop effective messages. They also work with ALA. They did focus groups and developed talking points. What resulted was "The Smartest Card. Get it. Use it. @your library." Kathleen noted that our most really effective advocates for libraries are our staff, our trustees, our friends, and our customers.

Phase two of the plan was initiated in November 2005. The Metropolitan Group was hired to develop the advocacy initiative. What resulted was the toolkit, which includes a book and many other useful materials: Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose, and Persuasion: A PLA Toolkit for Success

The Toolkit has proven to be a big seller. Any libraries receiving a Gates grant actually are receiving copies for free. Gates had earlier contacted PLA and wanted Advocacy to be a piece of future grants. Gates grant people realized that the biggest problem that a lot of libraries had was in convincing local authorities that continued funding would be needed to continue keeping the computers updated.

The toolkit includes a four part elevator speech that any of us can use when advocating on behalf of libraries:
1. What needs (problems) are being talked about in your community? Focus on just one of these needs.
2. What current library services help to address this need?
3. What research study supports it?
4. Tell a story.


Cathy De Rosa, Vice President for the Americas and Global Vice President of Marketing for OCLC:
From awareness to funding... a national program. A study of library support in the United States.

Among Cathy's many qualifications is her role as one of the principal researchers involved in the much publicized 2005 Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources report. She was also involved in the creation of the very recently released report, Sharing, Privacy, and Trust in Our Networked World.

Today Cathy provided us with a preview of a new report that is expected to be released in February 2008, titled "From awareness to funding… a national program. A study of library support in the United States." She remarked that she was spending about 10 minutes here on a presentation that could easily take 2 hours.

Cathy considers herself a marketer more than anything else. She is involved in telling stories = advocacy. We are not marketing the value of libraries effectively. Kathy has been fortunate that OCLC has funded this work. To many people libraries are just books. We don’t have a big enough voice in marketing. Kathy approached the Gates foundation to sponsor an Advocacy initiative. At many libraries the funding is down yet foot traffic is up. Operating levy and building levies have fallen. The idea was to research the potential for a national advocacy campaign.

The research suggests that sufficient, but latent, support exists in local communities to improve library funding. 80% of U.S. public library funding is local. Competition for the local purse is strong and intensifying. The key to motivating funding support for libraries is to position the library as vital to a community’s infrastructure and a source of transformation for individuals and the community. Any campaign will require scale and endurance.

Are libraries relevant? This question was asked by the grant sponsors repeatedly. They realistically wanted to know if the shortage of funding that many libraries face is in fact a funding problem or a product problem? The research shows that to many people libraries are about:

Information --> Transformation
Institution --> Infrastructure
Nice to have
Past
Altruism for others.

Overall findings about funding potential for public libraries in the U.S.
1. There’s a lot that people don’t know about their libraries.
2. Most people claim that they’ll support the library at the ballot box, but fewer are firmly committed to it.
3. Library support is only marginally related to visitation.
4. Perceptions of the librarian are highly related to support. (In particular, valuing a ‘Passionate Librarian’ is an important predictor of library support)
5. The library occupies a very clear emotional position in the realm of ‘knowledge’ where it’s very difficult to compete
6. Your belief that the library is a self-actualization tool (What differentiates the strongest supporters from others... [missed this])
7. [Missed this]

Six constructs drove the segmentation:
1. General voting behavior
2. Likelihood of voting favorably...
3. [Missed 3-6]

"Super Supporters" of libraries are only 7.1% of the population. "Probable" supporters of libraries are 32.3%

Traits of the Super Supporters (7.1%)
1. Super supporters are demographically average
2. Most are involved and influential in their communities, and are the most likely to express their opinions vocally and at the ballot box.
3. Avid readers with a longstanding relationship with their library. They recognize its importance to the community and children’s education. More than anyone else, they also view it as a place that can bring a community together.
4. Their emotional connection to the library transcends the practicality. It’s a place where they can better themselves intellectually and become the person they’ve always wanted to be.
5. They recognize... [Missed 5 and 6. She was going very fast!]
6.


Questions

A lunch break followed the 3 presentations. There was then an opportunity for the attendees to ask questions of the panelists.

One person asked what "OCLC" is. Cathy replied that it has stood for a few different things, most recently the Online Computer Library Center. But, she also said that a recent decision was made at OCLC that in the future it won't stand for any particular set of words - just OCLC.

Someone asked where the OCLC report that Cathy just described could be found. She said that it's not available yet and she can’t share the slides. In February the new report will become freely available from the OCLC web site. [Likely at this URL: http://www.oclc.org/reports/default.htm ]


-Joe