Library Visits

Bournemouth Library

Bournemouth Library is a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) building and opened in April 2002. The public were, and continue to be, involved in a wide range of consultation:

• Plans and designs were on display in all libraries to keep the public informed and to elicit comment
• Furniture was road tested!
• Titles/subject areas for purchase
• Young people helped design the Teen Zone, chose the colour scheme and name and helped with stock selection
• Visitor books collected customer comments at the time of the opening and continue to be collected.

        Comments received included:

• Wow – it's like being in the future
• I was that amazed I had to go out and come back in again
• Wicked!

During the first few opening weeks, staff ‘floorwalked' wearing tee-shirts saying ‘Ask Me' and many people did. The enquiry desks have been named Ask Here to make them more approachable.

We responded to early negative comments about the layout by analysing how people used the building by viewing the CCTV footage and the layout was changed to make it more user friendly.

Recently the Families Love Libraries project asked users for specific comments about facilities for families and children and suggestions for improvements. An action plan was drawn up to respond to the comments and suggestions received. Some of the positive comments received were:

“Excellent facilities – baby changing, toilets, modern, spacious, clean, colourful. Separate children's area.”

“Access to lots of books – FREE”

Some suggestions, which now appear in the action plan, are:

“Story telling for older children after school/weekends”

“Better display of 1 st Readers”

During July we have also been asking the public for their comments on the library website and a separate email address has been set up to enable the public to make comments specifically about the website.

We have also just completed a review of the strategic direction of the library service. Part of this review involved consultation with staff and the public. To collect the views of the public, 3 focus groups were set up in different libraries, including The Bournemouth Library. Staff at these libraries personally asked users as they came to the circulation desk if they wished to attend. This personal approach seemed to work much more successfully than putting up a poster or using leaflets etc. (though this was done as well) and these focus groups were well attended.

Other customer consultation activities carried out by the Bournemouth Library Service include a Lapsed Borrower Survey undertaken in 2004. The results were analysed internally, and an action plan drawn up to address the points raised by the analysis.

The library is flooded by light and the décor fresh and relaxing. It has proved to be an instant success. We increased, and have sustained, a doubling of usage. All ages use the library, but we are particularly popular with young people, whom we specifically targetted in our marketing. IT sits alongside book material (rather than separate) and specialist services/areas include the Music Zone, the Teen Zone, the Art Gallery and Conversation Corner.

This page was last updated on: 8 September, 2006