Needs Assessment of

Community College Library Assignment 2

Team 7

April 27, 2014

Needs Assessment of Forsyth Technical Community College Library

Table of Contents
I. Executive Summary
II. Introduction
About CC
Budget
III. Methods
Design
Survey Questions
Subjects
IV. Results
Student Survey Results
Library Staff Survey Results
Library Goals, Limitations, Validity and the Ideal State
V. Conclusions and Recommendations
VI. Strength and Weaknesses of Needs Assessment
VII. Appendices
Appendix A Student Satisfaction With Library Services Survey
Appendix B 3 Minute Library Staff Survey
Appendix C References

2
3
3
5
6
6
8
10
11
11
20
24
25
27
29
30
36
39

Table of Figures
Figure 1: Age Group - Pie Graph
Figure 2: Program Enrollment - Pie Graph
Figure 3: Frequency of Library Usage - Pie Graph
Figure 4: Purpose of Library Usage - Bar Graph
Figure 5: Frequency of Asking For Help - Pie Graph
Figure 6: Types of Staff Help - Bar Graph
Figure 7: Overall Student Satisfaction - Bar Graph
Figure 8: Frustrations With Services - Word Cloud
Figure 9: Improvements to Library Word Cloud
Figure 10: What Students Like Best Word Cloud
Figure 11: 12 Questions Responses - Pie Graph
Figure 12: Satisfaction By Individual - Bar Graph
Figure 13: Satisfaction By Questions - Bar Graph

11
12
12
13
13
14
15
18
18
20
22
23
23

I. Executive Summary
As a library at a local community college, Forsyth Technical Community Colleges main campus
library is faced with both opportunities and limitations. Following a successful administrator interview
by one of Team 7s group members, it was decided that FTCC would find useful the results of the type of
needs assessment provided by our assignment in LIS 650 Leadership and Management for Information
Organizations.
After identifying our library, our first step was to meet with the administrator as a group to
determine his expectations and explain our purpose in conducting the needs assessment. While we
initially wanted to focus on a narrower topic in the library, we ultimately decided that a more general
survey would be better given our time and resource constraints. Our chosen method was to formulate
and distribute simple electronic surveys using Google Forms assessing student satisfaction with library
services and library staff satisfaction. The surveys were distributed via a campus-wide e-mail listserv and
the library administrator, respectively.
Results from the student survey showed, in general, an above-average satisfaction rating with a
number of areas of library service at the main campus library. Respondents did express concern in the
areas of technology and the library environment, but we feel that many of the concerns could be
addressed by simply educating students about the services the library already offers. Responses to the
staff surveys were more varied, but again we felt some of their concerns could be mitigated by more
frequent communication between management and the staff.
Overall, the needs assessment experience was very educational to our group as a whole. We
learned the value of communication and more about the realistic time constraints of such endeavors in
the field. We hope that our findings will be of some value to the library staff and patrons of FTCC.

II. Introduction
This section included an overview of the college assessed and is excluded for anonymity.

III. Methods
Design
This is a qualitative research project that resulted in an assessment of student and staff
satisfaction within the library at FTCC. We began the design process by meeting with the head of the
library. During the meeting we discussed areas of interest to the library that we might study and from
this we developed a plan where we thought we could focus on assessing library service to the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) needs students. We next met with the colleges counselor for Disability
Services, to explore the viability of such an assessment. It quickly became evident that there were
special circumstances when using ADA students as subjects that were outside our ability to navigate,
and that to focus on one small group was not in keeping with the intent of the assessment assignment.
As a result we abandoned this idea and instead focused on the student body as a whole, and decided to
assess students satisfaction with library services. Our decision to study library staff job satisfaction was
a much simpler one; our focus and the structure was there from the first, provided by the 12 Questions
from our text, First Break All the Rules. The head of the library was agreeable to this.
Keeping in agreement with the two-pronged approach to our assessment, the research was
designed employing two different instruments. These instruments were developed as online surveys
created within Google Forms. No face-to-face or paper surveys were used since it would be too difficult
to gather and track in such a short time. As regards obtaining budgeting information, a follow-up phone
interview was conducted with the head of the library. One of the surveys is directed at students (not
including other users, such as continuing education students, faculty, administrators and the broader

community), and addresses student feedback of library services. This includes the services of the staff
and the collection resources (print and online).
A second survey addresses the satisfaction of the library staff in their roles (and with their
administrator). Our needs assessment group based this survey on literature from our (Leadership and
Management in Information Organizations) class. First, Break All the Rules is a text on organizational
performance that formulates 12 questions that are thought to most effectively measure the strength of
a workplace. These 12 questions were asked of the library staff. Workplace satisfaction is an important
consideration for administrators in striving to create an optimal opportunity for staff to provide quality
service to users.
The Three Rules from Raving Fans, (1. decide what you want, 2. discover what the customer
wants, and 3. deliver plus one) were the point of inspiration for development of the survey for the
students, which we developed during open discussion among Group 7 members. We eventually
established 16 questions for the students. Some were designed to establish demographics and usage, a
few employed a five-point Likert scale to gauge satisfaction, and three open ended text-response type
questions were included to allow respondents to include their own insights. Both surveys contained an
opening statement outlining the purpose and goal of the survey, including an explanation that the
results of the survey would be incorporated in the needs assessment and would remain confidential.
The surveys then underwent a review process by a committee at FTCC, who then required a
disclaimer be added to the documents, which delayed our launch for a few days. In addition, a letter of
confirmation from our instructor at UNCG, Dr. Anthony Chow, was requested and responded to.
Eventually the surveys were approved and then an email requesting participation was sent to staff and
students. The time frame allotted for taking both surveys was 10 days, which is the number of days we
had originally hoped to allot.

Survey Questions
As mentioned above, the data of student satisfaction with library services was collected
throughout 16 questions. The questions can be organized into four sections. See Appendix A for a copy
of the Student Satisfaction with Library Services survey in its entirety.
Section 1 consists of demographic questions to identify the respondents age group and the
program they are currently enrolled in. Six age groups are provided to choose from regarding the
demographics: 20 or younger, 21-30, 31-45, 46-65, 66 or older, and those preferring not to answer. The
programs offered at FTCC are organized regarding students educational goals to identify which kind of
academic activities get more help from the library. The categories are associate's degree or college
transfer, high school equivalency program, certificate program, professional development, personal
enrichment, and others.
Section 2 is structured to understand students library use including frequency of use, the
purpose of use, regularity of asking questions to librarians, and types of help they get. Before creating
choices for the questions, team members for the assessment went to the library physically and
conducted a brief observation of how users are using the library as well as interviewing the director.
Activities in the library are divided into individual study, group study or group work, check out/work with
printed materials, check out/work with media, use available technology, and others. The options for
types of help from librarians are put into finding a resource, help with technology, help with an
assignment, provide general information, and others. These organizations are intended to find out the
strengths and weaknesses of the library based on the difference of the activities.
Section 3 asks respondents how they feel about library services in a Likert 1-to-5 scale (1strongly disagree and 5-strongly agree) in seven subject areas. The areas include staff services, library
resources, overall satisfaction and ADA support. This section is designed to learn patrons subjective
impression of the library and its services. The scaling method is useful to see user satisfaction in
5

numerical figures. It also allows the library to track their improvement by continuing the same type of
survey in the future and comparing numbers, which is great feedback for the staffs hard work.
The last section, section 4, consists of three open-ended questions asking what frustration users
have, what is one thing that they think needs improvement, and what they like best about the library.
Respondents can write their comments freely for each question. This section was designed in order to
get detailed information and supplemental explanation of the evaluation in section 3. The answers from
the respondents are also used to identify concrete and exact concerns the library currently has by
checking the frequency of being mentioned and figuring out the nature of the issues in the later analysis.
Throughout these four sections, the survey is aimed at collecting both comprehensive and detailed data
of student satisfaction with overall library services.
For staff satisfaction, 12 questions from First, Break all the Rules are directly introduced into the
survey. These questions are created based on a theory that staff satisfaction makes services improved
and leads to user satisfaction. Buckingham and Coffman, who are the authors of First, Break all the
Rules, suggest that employees should be encouraged to take responsibility for their work and be
rewarded for their achievements according to outcomes reached and proposed by managers. These 12
questions are a great check-list to keep staff members motivated and engaged in their work, which
results in great services for the library users. See Appendix B for a copy of the Student Satisfaction with
Library Services survey in its entirety.
In the survey, respondents are asked to choose yes or no for each question. Some supplemental
comments are required depending on questions. The survey is intended to identify the satisfaction level
of staff members by counting how many questions out of twelve are answered in the affirmative. The
data is also able to show what support the library can provide to enhance staff satisfaction focusing on
questions answered no.

Subjects
As mentioned above, we conducted research with two different groups. One group consisted of
the staff of FTCC library, both full-time and part-time, with the exception of the head of the library,
which is a total of 8 people, (N=8). For the staff survey four responses (n=4) were collected, which is a
50% response rate. The second group consisted of the student body, with the exception of those
students participating in continuing education classes. This resulted in a sample size of approximately
38,000 students, (N=38,000). A total of 267 (n=267) responses were collected for a response rate of .7
percent.

IV. Results
Student Survey Results
Demographics
The first two questions of the survey addressed demographics. Results show that of these, the
highest percentage of respondents, 31%, are 21-30 years old; 25% are 31-45 years old; 24% are 20 years
old or younger; 19% are 46-65 years old, none are 66 or older, and 1% of the respondents preferred not
to answer. The age groups under age 65 are fairly evenly represented.

FIGURE 1

As for the type of program in which respondents are enrolled, the associates degree or college
transfer program is what 89% indicated. Only 2% of respondents are in the high school equivalency
program, 1% are in a certificate program, 1 person was in a professional development program, none
were in a personal enrichment program, and 7% chose other. The heavy skew of respondents from
the associates degree or college transfer program seems in line with the large number of students who
received associate degrees as compared to diplomas and certificates of those that graduated in the
2012- 2013 academic year (920 associates degrees for 1,331 graduates) (FTCC-Fast Facts). Thus, while
there is a large range of ages represented in this survey, the range of programs in which respondents are
enrolled is very narrow.

FIGURE 2

Library Usage
The frequency of main campus library use, or library services use, shows a range of usage
frequency. Most respondents, 31%, use the library a few times a semester, 21% never use the library,
20% use the library a few times a week, 17% use the library a few times a month, and 10% use the
library daily. It is interesting that a significant percent of respondents (21%) completed this survey even
though they do not use the library.

FIGURE 3

The purpose for which respondents use the library included 29% for individual study, 29% for available
technology, 19% for group study or group work, 18% to check out or work with printed materials, 8% for
other uses, and 3% to check out or work with media. While the largest percentage of students use the
library for individual study, we find it interesting that technology use is close behind.

FIGURE 4

The frequency of asking for assistance from staff by respondents shows that 40% did so a few times a
semester, 36% never, 15% a few times a month, 8% a few times a week, and 1% daily. This shows that
76% rarely, if ever, ask the library staff for assistance. This means that the results of the ensuing
questions about library staff service are based on feedback from only 24% who ask for assistance from
staff.

FIGURE 5

When asked the types of ways that library staff has helped, 28% of respondents said it was by providing
general information, 27% by finding a book, 21% by helping with technology, 13% by helping with an
assignment, and 12% in some other way.

FIGURE 6

Student Satisfaction Rating

Each of the seven Likert five point scale statements received an above average response
indicating that students are for the most part satisfied with library services, but that there is room for
improvement. This is corroborated by the comments in survey section 4. The statement The library
staff is helpful received a median rating response of 4.11. The statement, The library staff seems to
care about the patrons received a median rating response of 4.05. The statement The library staff is
friendly received a median rating response of 4.13. The statement The library provides resources to

10

help me with my assignments received a median rating response of 4.06. The statement The library
meets my needs as a student received a median rating response of 3.99. The statement The library
meets the needs of most students I know received a median rating response of 3.94. The statement
The library meets the needs of students with disabilities received a median rating response of 3.95.

FIGURE 7

Open-Ended Survey Questions

Our online survey included three open-ended questions. Of those three, two of them focused
on respondents frustrations with the library and what they saw as areas for improvement at the
library. We asked: Do you have any frustrations with library services? and What one thing would you
do to improve the library? To analyze these answers, we first read through the responses and then
color-coded them according to trends we noticed in the responses. These included: technology (red),
environment (blue), furnishings (purple), collection (orange), staff (pink), positive responses (green), and
no frustrations/suggestions (not color-coded). More than half of the respondents indicated that they
did not have any frustrations with library services. Among those who did have frustrations, the two
primary areas of concern were in the areas we labeled technology and environment.
11

Perhaps the most obvious and recurring trend was that respondents had frustrations with and
saw a need for improvement of technology in the library. Many respondents complained about the fact
that the printer was not in working order all semester and others just felt that the library needed to
upgrade its computer equipment in general. A few of the (unedited) comments included:
needs more outlets to plug up battery charger for my laptop.
they don't provide Microsoft Office on their computers.
the printer hasn't worked for a few weeks now, and the computers that have maple are not powerful enough to
run them.
Add more computers
I would make sure that all students have access to Microsoft Office on the computer.
Sometimes the printer breaks down. I think they need an updated printer that will work. properly.
The only complaint that I have is the printers. At the beginning of the semester we could only print word documents.
I think that is unfair to those who don't have printer access at home. I travel from Guilford County everyday, and I
don't have time to run around campus to find somewhere to print powerpoint (which all of my classes use to teach). I
think it would be beneficial for the school to start using print cards... Since I am having to go to a different school to
purchase cards and use their printers.
More computers
Photography and video editing software would improve students ability to prepare state of the art projects. These
tools would allow students to maintain current skills and display their work in comparison to 4 year colleges and
universities.
I feel very strongly that they library should have access to wireless services; as most of the classes require the
students to submit work through Blackboard, Apia, Cengage, or other according to class. We are unable to use the
library as an area of study because we cannot get on our laptops to do so.

These comments reflect a large proportion of the technology-related issues students named. It
should be noted that they are the students perceptions of the library and not necessarily an accurate
reflection of what the library offers. For example, while many respondents commented that there is no
wireless internet access in the library, one person noted that campus-wide WiFi service was enacted last
semester.
In general, the number one finding was that students frustrations were with technology in the
library. In addition to commenting on the status of WiFi, there were also many comments referencing
the printer and the fact (or their perception) that it seemed to be broken for several weeks in a row. It

12

seems that many students feel that this is an essential piece of equipment needed for their educational
goals and there is also an expectation among students that the library provide this service. The
expectation is not necessarily for free printing services, but rather that there is a consistently working
printer available. One student suggested providing printing cards, which would allow students to load
money and pay for printing materials as they need them.
After technology, the other most prevalent trend we noticed was that there is a group of
students that feel that the library is too noisy. We identified this as an environmental factor in our
analysis of the responses. A few of those comments were:
My main frustration is with the noise level the library often gets. I am one who believes the library should be used
only for studying and not for socializing. The library often gets the last part and it is highly distracting and frustrating
when you come there for quiet. However, this person also said that what they like best about the library is, I like
how you can reserve a private room if everywhere else is too loud or if your meeting with a study group.
More quiet areas. It is not that large and when very many groups get together to study (or socialize), it is too loud for
a library I think.
Several of the times that I have used the library, I have had trouble focusing on my work because of the social
conversations of students and groups around me. I wish that there were separate areas for group work and quiet
study or computer access. Most of the time the conversations are personal/social in nature, and I can tell this because
I can hear most of it clearly.

While there were many comments about the socializing and noise level of the library, many
commended the library for being a quiet place to study in their comments. Again, this may go back to
students perceptions of and expectations for the library. It may be that students looking for a quiet
place to study are unaware of such designated spaces in the library, while students working together in
groups do not know about designated areas for group work and socializing. This also goes back to
student expectations. Some may expect the library to have a completely hushed and serious
atmosphere, while others view it as a place to continue their educational goals in a social setting.
Technology and the noise level of the library were the two primary trends we found when
analyzing students responses to the open-ended questions Do you have any frustrations with library
services? and What one thing would you do to improve the library? It is worth noting again that this
may have more to do with students perceptions of how their expectations are being met, rather than
13

actual services provided by the library. Possible solutions can be found in the Recommendations
section of this paper.
FIGURE 8
Word cloud
generated by
students
responses to the
question Do you
have any
frustrations with
library services?
Note: The size of
words in the
word cloud is
proportional to
the amount of
times the word
appears in the
text (in this case,
the students
responses.)

14

FIGURE 9
Word cloud
generated by
students
responses to the
question What
one thing you
would do to
improve the
library?

The last open-ended question of the student survey asked What do you like best about the
library? Staff was the single most predominant word to be mentioned with approximately 48
appearances. Other references to staff services, such as get help or get assistance accounted for
another 14 appearances, for a total of 62 times that staff services were what students like best about
the library. The word quiet was next predominantly featured with 32 appearances. Other
environment-related answers, such as peaceful or good place to study accounted for 37
appearances, with a total number of 69 responses attributing the library environment as what students
like best. Other significant answers included books or resources at 29 appearances, and
convenience of location at 16 appearances.
Also among these results were 13 appearances that attributed qualities of the Learning Center
as to what the respondents like about the library. This would be an error of power in our results.
Answers such as computer lab, being able to print material from the Learning Center computers,
15

there is almost always a computer open when I need one and the testing center is helpful as well, etc.,
do not reflect services of the library. Considering the number of appearances with the total number of
survey respondents (267), that would be an error rate of 4.9%. It is possible that this rate could be
higher if answers were not so easily detected as relating to the library or not. All in all, it appears that
the environment and the staff were the main things that respondents liked most about the library.

FIGURE 10
Word cloud
generated by
students
responses to the
question What
do you like best
about the
library?

Library Staff Survey Results

The purpose of surveying the staff is to ascertain their job satisfaction. The importance of job
satisfaction is that it correlates to an organizations opportunity to be successful. Delivering excellent
library services aligns with the librarys goal of meeting students needs. According to First, Break All the
Rules, ...the key to building a strong, vibrant workplace lies in meeting employees [basic] needs
(Buckingham and Coffman 47) The authors define basic needs from two areas. The first is satisfaction
that a manager makes his expectations clear. These are identified in the first and second questions of

16

the survey: 1. Do I know what is expected of me at work? and 2. Do I have the materials and
equipment I need to do my work right? All of the library staff survey respondents answered yes to
these questions and so it can be ascertained that the head of the library does make his expectations
clear.
The next level of basic needs relates to whether or not an employee feels valued and connected
to a team. These are identified in survey questions 3 through 6. To summarize, these questions relate to
an individuals sense of personal contribution and his/her perception of what others think of him/her
based on feedback. The survey results show a 100% response for Question 3, At work, do I have the
opportunity to do what I do best every day? For the questions pertaining to receiving recognition or
praise in the last seven days (Q4), and someone who encourages my development (Q6), only 50% of the
respondents answered positively. For the question regarding there being someone at work who cares
about me (Q5), 75% answered positively. Buckingham and Coffman emphasize that it is in these two
basic areas where a manager will find it most worthwhile to spend his time and effort with employees.
From these results it can be garnered that some effort as regards weekly recognition or praise of
employees, expression of personal concern, and further encouragement of development would be an
area of opportunity for improvement.
Building up from the foundation, the next category of strength relates to how an employee sees
him/herself fitting in to the organization and is identified in questions 7 through 10: At work, do my
opinions seem to count? (Q7), Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is
important? (Q8), Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? (Q9), and Do I have a best
friend at work? (Q10) Responses for questions 7, 8 and 9 were 50% positive. It seems that there is a fair
share of opportunity in these areas. There was 100% positive feedback to co-workers commitment to
quality work. This is an area of strength for the staff and deserves applause.

17

The final area of growth relates to how the staff can work together to make improvements. This
relates to the remaining questions: In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my
progress? (Q 11) and This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow? (Q12). While
it is positive that 75% of respondents felt that they have had opportunities to learn and grow, none of
the respondents had their progress discussed with them in the last six months. It may be wise to heed
the authors recommendations when considering the areas of opportunity from the results of questions
7-12. The basic level needs (Q1-6) should be satisfied before true progress can be achieved, and they
say, If your employees lower level needs remain unaddressed, then everything you do for them along
the journey is almost irrelevant (46). Realizing that every person is an individual and a manager is only
one person, a final point of interest that the authors offer is, You have to be able to set consistent
expectations for all your people yet at the same time treat each person differently (49).

FIGURE 11
The library staff satisfaction survey was sent to 8 out of 12 members. Four responses were
collected anonymously. The overall satisfaction rating is based on the number of 12 questions to which
staff answered yes, which is 66.7%.- Another way to put it, 33.3% of the questions were answered

18

with a no response. This 33.3% indicate the items where the library can potentially make more effort
to improve their services.
The satisfaction level is ranged broadly between the lowest 33% to the highest 97%. These
lopsided results suggest that more structured and systematic interaction with staff members could be
needed to eliminate satisfaction gaps between employees. The data also shows none of the staff
members has answered yes to all 12 questions.

FIGURE 12
Focusing on each question, the survey results show that there is variability of achievement
among subject areas. Question 1, 2, 3 and 9 are answered in the positive for all staff members. Question
1 asks if staff understand what is expected of them at work. Question 2 is about if they have enough
materials and equipment at work. Question 3 is about the opportunity to do what they do best every
day, and Question 9 is if they think co-workers are committed to doing quality work. All respondents
answered yes to these questions. On the contrary, everyone said no to Question 11, In the last six
months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?

19

FIGURE 13

Library Goals, Limitations, Validity and the Ideal State

Creating raving fans of the library among the staff (internal customers) and students (external
customers) aligns with the librarys desire to provide excellent service. The philosophies discussed in our
class text, Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service, (Blanchard and Bowles) include
three components. The first is to decide what you want, or, What does success look like to the head
of the library? We believe ultimate success in his eyes would be that the library is providing all students
with the resources and services that they need and that this success has a resounding effect on the
school administration, which ultimately leads to the acknowledgement and greater support of the
library as an integral part of education.
The second component is to decide what the customer wants, and for this reason we
surveyed the staff for their job satisfaction (to measure the strength of the workplace) and the students
for their satisfaction with library services. A strong workplace enables an organization to achieve
greater focus and be innovative in delivering its services.
Feedback from the quantitative and qualitative portions of this survey provide information to
help the organization see what services are present and appreciated, and what ones are desired. From
20

this FTCC may gather that students would be more satisfied, or more likely to become raving fans, if
computers and printers were better maintained, resource material was more up-to-date, and the
atmosphere was quieter.
The third component from Raving Fans is to deliver plus one. Being able to achieve this should
result in students who are loyal to the library and who are expressing their satisfaction with others,
including students, professors, and even possibly administration. However, to achieve this, the first two
considerations must be taken into account. The head of the library should have a solid vision for what
excellent library service is, and he must have a strong understanding of what the staff and students want
from their library. Drawing from these two and the resources he has available, he would then identify
the areas where he would like to focus his and the staffs energy to improve service, and to do so with
consistency over time. Once this is accomplished (in all areas), he then can attempt to deliver beyond
expectations, possibly even making the library stand out among similar libraries, or within its own
institution. This would be delivering plus one.
The staff population surveyed may be different from what we expected it to be. This may be
considered an issue of power for this part of the assessment. Group 7s intent was to ascertain job
satisfaction of library staff, however the survey was delivered to five library staff (FT) and three other
staff (PT) (two of whom work in the language lab and one who works in Technical Services), and possibly
four support (PT) staff who do work in the library but are not supervised directly by the head of the
library. The three other staff were given the survey because they are directly supervised by the head of
the library. The two working in the language lab do not work directly in the library but are under the
direction of the library.
As regards the four support staff, the head of the library a explained that their supervisors often
forwarded e-mail to them, but he does not know if they received this survey or not. The extent of error
at one extreme may be that three of the four respondents could be those who do not work in the

21

library, and the other extreme could be that 12 people instead of 8 received the survey, and then we
would have a 33% response rate instead of a 50% response rate. We believe the complexity of the staff
structure may be due to the nature of the head of the librarys dual roles.

V. Conclusions and Recommendations

We feel that despite a relatively low response percentage (267 out of approximately 38,000
students, or .7 percent), the results of our student survey provide a useful snapshot of perceptions of
FTCCs library and its services. Students as a whole seem to be relatively satisfied with the librarys
services, staff, collection, and other resources as is indicated by the quantitative results to several
questions using Likert scale responses. Averages of responses to those questions indicate that students
have an overall satisfaction rating of above average (between 3.94 and 4.13 out of 5) in each of seven
different categories. This indicates relative satisfaction with the library.
Our more qualitative, open-ended questions revealed that students primary concerns were
with technology in the library and with environmental factors like noise levels. Students were
somewhat frustrated with faulty technology (such as printers being out of order) and wanted more
updated technology, along with WiFi access in the library. Some were frustrated with groups they
considered to be too loud for a library setting, but other students were grateful for designated quiet
spaces within the library. There did seem to be a gap between respondents perceptions of library
services and what is actually offered. This would indicate that students are unaware of some of those
services that the library offers.
It should also be noted that the Learning Center (which is the computer lab adjacent to the
library) is actually moving to a new location after this semester. We assume that if this move includes
new equipment that will mitigate a lot of the complaints about technology.

22

On a more positive note, a lot of respondents were very enthusiastic about the services offered
at FTCCs library. While some students felt the library can be noisy at times, others felt that it was a
quiet and peaceful place to study, with friendly staff, a nice collection, and a welcoming
atmosphere.
As far as the staff survey, we received a higher return rate of the surveys. Three-quarters of the
staff members indicated a much higher satisfaction rate by answering yes to many of the 12
questions, while one in particular answered no to almost every question. One trend we did notice
was that all four answered no to the question In the last six months, has someone at work talked to
you about your progress? While this does not take into account that many work environments conduct
performance reviews on an annual basis, it does present an opportunity for improvement.
Our recommendations would be to start by simply letting students know what services are
available. Students may not always get the message the first (or second) time around. It may be helpful
to have handouts about the process of using printers in the library, or to even consider instituting a
printer card system (if feasible) where students can pay for print jobs. This would help regulate what
students print and possibly provide additional income for maintenance. If WiFi is indeed now campuswide, it might be worthwhile to send out a mass e-mail reminder or to post signs in visible areas in the
library. The same goes for quiet study spaces. While it would be impossible to satisfy everyone,
understanding some of the respondents primary concerns and knowing that many of them have already
been addressed, gives librarians a reference point on what services they provide that they can educate
students about.
Another opportunity for improvement might be in more regular communication with staff
members about their performance, managements expectations, and their jobs in general. This certainly
would not have to be on such a formal level as annual performance evaluations, but might help close
the gap in some of the staffs satisfaction ratings by making them feel more valued and attended to.

23

VI. Strengths and Weaknesses of Needs Assessment Experience

This needs assessment had its fair share of challenges and rewards. One of our strengths was
the makeup of the research team. It was a harmonious and productive group with a good mix of
abilities. We worked well together and that made for a smoother project. The head of the library was
also very accommodating and this enabled the process to move efficiently for us and to be very
positive.
An obstruction we faced immediately was the establishment of the assessment focus as we
discussed in Methods. Designing the assessment instrument, the survey, was another challenge that
took some effort to overcome. We feel there is room for improvement in our survey questions and that
perhaps a change in the structure of their sequence would have given different results. Also, allowing
respondents who did not use the library to answer all the questions may have resulted in skewed
results. Finally we see room for improvement in the phrasing of the questions. We wonder if by stating
things a certain way, for example, the question Do you have any frustrations with the library? is
possibly too negatively oriented. A more neutral wording could improve the response.
Another obstruction we overcame was the delay in survey delivery as discussed in Methods. The
request for a statement on school letterhead was a surprise. Fortunately Dr. Chows quick response
satisfied the hold, but the process cost us a few days. Time may have been the biggest obstruction we
faced. With more time we would have had more responses and perhaps time to test the questions.
Except for the initial survey approval the library was most helpful and responsive and we are
thankful for that. We hope our results are useful to them.
Through this assessment we learned that there are many considerations when researching
information about students with disabilities. We learned about careful wording of research questions.
We also learned about the bureaucracy within a school; next time we would anticipate delays. We

24

learned about the complex nature of studying human situations and systems, and finally we learned
about each other, which may be the biggest take away of all.

25

VII. Appendices
Appendix A Student Satisfaction With Library Services Survey
Appendix B 3 Minute Staff Survey
Appendix C Works Cited

26

Appendix A Student Satisfaction With Library Services Survey

27

28

29

30

31

32

Appendix B 3 Minute Library Staff Survey

33

34

35

Appendix C References
References
Blanchard, K. & Bowles, S. (1993). Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service. New
York: William Morrow and Company

Buckingham, M. & Coffman, C. 1999. First, Break All the Rules: What the Worlds Greatest Managers Do
Differently. New York: Simon and Schuster

Additional references excluded for anonymity.

36