The Quest for Optimal Hours of Operation:
A study of the
Margaret L.
Borden
Southern
Information and Library Science
Running head:
Optimal Hours of Operation
Abstract
A survey was conducted to determine if patrons’ needs
were being met by the current schedule at the East Falmouth Branch
Library. The survey was distributed
during the last three weeks of December 2003.
Patrons were asked to choose ideal days and times to visit the
library. The results show Monday and
Friday to be the preferred days and morning and early afternoon were selected
as preferred times. In answer to an open
response question about an ideal schedule for the library, the addition of
Friday hours and consistent hours throughout the week were favored.
Introduction
Service hours at the East Falmouth Branch Library
were last changed twenty years ago. At
the time, the schedule had to be adjusted to meet a reduction in hours due to
budget cuts. According to a report
sponsored by the Cape Cod Times (2001), the population in the town of
Hernon and Altman (1998) give libraries guidelines
for gathering data from a customer-driven perspective and that is useful in
meeting customers’ expectations, thereby gaining customer satisfaction. Baker and Lancaster (1991) describe the
publics need to perceive the library as being accessible. There is a reference to a study by Getz
(1980) where patrons in a section of New York City viewed the branches in their
area to be “equidistant” and it then became an issue of which branch had the
most convenient hours (Baker & Lancaster, 1991). When considering a new policy like a change
in library hours, it should be treated as a field assignment (Hewitt, 1991).
In a search of Library
and Information Science Abstracts and
Library Literature only a few published studies that addressed changing
library hours to meet patrons’ needs could be found. To find convenient hours for a small public
library, Elieson and Dowd (1992) measured daily door counts for the library and
compared them to transaction counts for neighboring businesses like the grocery
store, gas station and video store. In
addition they used a survey to determine patron preferences for open days and
hours. The study was not successful in
finding patterns in community activity as it related to the library, since
Monday was the busiest day at the library and this was not the situation at the
other institutions in the study. It was
also recognized that library patrons only made up a small portion of the daily
traffic of the other businesses. In
other words not every grocery store customer was a library user. The only correlation in peak transaction
times with the other institutions was during dismissal time at the neighborhood
school. This was an hour each week day
when all the institutions were busy. Fox
(2000), as a result of surveying students at
The East Falmouth Branch Library is currently open 23
hours per week over 4 days (Mon.-Thurs.).
This schedule includes two mornings (
It seemed that patrons were often showing up when the
library was closed. To determine if the
hours are still meeting the patron’s needs, it therefore seemed prudent to
survey patrons to find out their perspective on the library schedule.
Method
A survey was developed to solicit
information from patrons about whether or not the current schedule at the East
Falmouth Branch Library is convenient for the user (See Appendix A). The survey was available the last three weeks
of December 2003. The survey was
distributed and collected within the Branch Library by means of a drop off box
on the circulation desk. The staff
verbally encouraged patrons to participate in the survey, but would not offer
any opinion on the responses. To enable
a count of which surveys were responded to on which days and time of day, a
code was devised. For example: M-1 represents Monday from 12:00-3:00p.m.
(early afternoon). There is a people
counter at the entrance to the library that counts all visitors to the
building. A reading was recorded from
the people counter for each of the time increments each day the survey was
administered. The counts were used to
compare the foot traffic in the library with the total survey responses.
Results
One hundred and fifteen library
patrons responded to the survey on optimal branch library hours. This is 27% of the total library visitors
recorded on the people counter for the four days that the survey was
distributed. More
library patrons responded to the survey when they visited the library in the
late afternoon between
Sixty-seven
percent of the customers who responded to the question, “Do the
library’s current hours meet your needs?” (Appendix A) answered yes. Despite the fact that these patrons responded
yes, most also answered the next question, “If the current hours do not meet
your needs, then how would you change them?” (Appendix A). Out of 115 library patrons participating in
the survey, there were 58 participants who responded to this question (see
Table B-1). Thirty-four percent of the responses
suggest opening on Fridays and 17 percent referred to Saturday hours. Staying open in the middle of the day was
stated or implied by 22 percent of the respondents.
The most preferred days of the week to visit the
library were Monday (22%) and Friday (20%).
Wednesday and Saturday were each only selected 14 percent of the time
(see Figure 1 and Table C-2). Many of
the respondents selected more than one day and time as their preference. For purposes of this study all selections
were counted. The Branch Library does
not currently have Friday or Saturday hours.
Figure 1.
Morning was indicated as the preferred time to visit
the library. Out of 129 responses 36
percent indicated a preference for morning, but 35 percent of the selections
were for early afternoon (see Chart and Table C-3). 
Figure 2.
Tables
were constructed recording preferences by time of day. There was a clear preference for morning
hours of operation in both the morning (
Discussion
Baker et al (1991) suggests that if
patrons use the services of the library, then they will consider the library
accessible and will be a repeat customer.
This study surveyed regular patrons, in other words repeat customers. Sixty-seven percent of the survey respondents
indicated that the present library schedule is satisfactory. The fact that the respondents are regular
patrons demonstrates that they have found the schedule accessible.
Despite the fact that the staff was
surveying regular customers who had obviously found the library accessible, as
evidenced by their repeat visits, there was still a strong preference indicated
for more morning and early afternoon hours.
In the four days that the Branch Library is open, only on two of those
days is it open mornings and early afternoons.
As it is now, if the library is open in the morning, it is not open in
the early afternoon on the same day. The survey
answers also suggest a need for consistent hours that include mornings and
early afternoons every day that the Branch Library is open.
The
staff has heard complaints that the library is closed from Thursday night until
Monday afternoon. The assumption was
that patrons wanted Saturday hours. This
study indicates that the patrons’ preference is for the library to be open on
Friday. According to the survey,
Saturday and Wednesday were the least preferred days. For some time now the staff has recorded foot
traffic and circulation statistics daily and had concluded that Wednesday was
not a busy day.
The question of Sunday hours was intentionally not
listed on the survey, since the library administration and the staff have been
reluctant to institute Sunday hours.
There is a commitment for the main library to commence Sunday hours in
2005 for the first time. It was
anticipated that a survey respondent may have requested Sunday hours in
response to the open ended question, “If the current hours do not adequately
meet your needs, then how would you change them to be ideal for you?” This did not happen and the assumption would
be that patrons responding to the survey did not have a strong preference for
Sunday hours at the East Falmouth Branch Library.
A
limited group of current library users responded to this survey, but potential
library patrons were not polled as part of this survey. There was no allowance made for people who
had visited the library in the past, but no longer found the schedule
convenient and were obviously not present to poll. This same survey could be distributed outside
of the library to poll a larger group who may not yet use the library
services. A location for survey
distribution could be the three village post offices that serve the same zip
code as the Branch Library.
A
quantitative study could be developed to analyze electronic records of
circulation per hour at the Branch Library during different times of the
year. These results could be compared to
library circulation statistics from peer libraries at the same period, but
during different hours of operation. This
comparison would note specific times that the Branch Library is closed.
Conducting
a survey of patrons to determine user satisfaction is not a new concept. The results are unique to the needs of the
individual institution. This research is
relevant for the East Falmouth Branch Library.
This exploratory study begins a discussion on a policy change. More data needs to be collected to present to
the Library Director and the Board of Trustees.
If this
problem is examined further, incorporating some of the ideas that have been
suggested for future research, it could then serve as a model for other
libraries faced with similar policy decisions.
References
Baker, S.
L. & Lancaster, F. W. (1991). The measurement and evaluation of
library
services. (2nd ed.).
1970-2000.
In
Elieson,
V. & Dowd, F. S. (1992). Closed
again? The dilemma of the small public
library. Public Libraries, 31, 158-163.
Fox, A. (2000).
The after-five syndrome: Library
hours and services for the adult
Learner. The Reference Librarian, 69/70,
119-126.
Getz,
M.(1980). Public libraries: An economic
view.
Hernon,
P. & Altman, E. (1998). Assessing
service quality: Satisfying the
Expectations of library customers.
Association.
Hewitt,
J. A. (1991). The role of the library
administor in improving LIS research.
In C. R. McClure & P. Hernon
(Eds.), Library and information science
research: Perspectives and strategies for improvement, pp. 163-178.
Appendix A
This is a survey, initiated by the East Falmouth Branch staff, is to determine if the hours of operation continue to meet the needs of the community and the East Falmouth Library patrons. Results will be forwarded to the Library Director and Trustees for planning purposes. Please take a few minutes to help us with this survey.
1. What day of the week
would you be most likely to visit this library if there were a choice of Monday
through Saturday:
___ Monday
___ Tuesday
___ Wednesday
___ Thursday
___ Friday
___ Saturday
2. What time of the day would you most likely
visit the library based on the choice above?
___ Morning
___ Early Afternoon
___ Late Afternoon
___ Evening
3. Do the library’s current hours meet your
needs adequately? The schedule of open
hours currently is:
Monday 12-5
Tuesday 9-12 & 3-5
Wednesday 9-12 & 3-5
Thursday 12-8
___ Yes ___ No
4. If the current hours do not adequately meet
your needs, then how would you change them to be ideal for you?
Do you
currently have a CLAMS library card? ___Yes ___No
Do you live in
Please
indicate the number of people in your household who are in the following age
brackets: ___Under 5 ___6-11 ___12-18
___19-25 ___26-59 ___Over
60
Thank
you for taking the time to help with this survey.
Meg Borden, Branch Librarian
Appendix B
Responses to: If the current hours do not
adequately meet your needs, then how would you change them to be ideal for you?
Table 1.
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
|
Maybe Fridays? |
Open on Friday. |
Friday & Saturday hours for
working people. |
Open daily |
|
Ideally M-Sat. |
Need to add Monday morning,
since closed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. |
Open some time on weekends,
many people come just at this time. |
Hours are fine; no weekend hour’s
necessary. |
|
Eight hours per day. |
Monday-Friday from |
Saturday |
Fridays would be wonderful. |
|
Thursday should be |
Naturally longer hours to fit
into my erratic schedule. |
Monday morning. |
Mid-day Tuesday and Wednesday. |
|
Thursday |
Have hours on Friday and
Saturday. |
Stay open 12p.m-3p.m., even if
it necessitates less days open. |
Hard to remember the hours and
days, since they are different. |
|
Do not close in the middle of
the day. |
Full days. |
Would like to have the East
Falmouth Library open Monday-Friday. |
Maybe Monday, Wednesday, Friday
all day or Tuesday, Thursday, Friday all day. |
|
Open |
Could be more… more…more… |
More hours to include Fridays
and/or Saturdays. |
Thank you for asking. |
|
A little bit later like to |
Expand to 8a.m. opening and
weekend hours. |
As is now |
My time is free and I can adapt
to any hours. |
|
Open Friday or Saturday
mornings. |
We are usually only here
weekends, except during summer. |
Open |
Present hours are suitable to
me. |
|
Another evening or Saturday
morning. |
End of week-Friday
evening/Saturday morning. |
Make them easier to remember. |
It would be easier to remember
if it were the same every day. |
|
Open after |
No gap in time of schedule on
Tuesday and Wednesday/open Friday. |
Same hours each day. |
Open at 12 in the afternoon. |
|
Hard to remember split time and
differences from day to day. |
Five days a week. |
Open Friday. |
Some on Friday. |
|
Open Friday to have them(?) for
the weekend. |
Put hours online. More evenings. |
|
Always seem to come between
12:00p.m and |
|
Saturday hours. |
|
|
I like |
|
|
|
|
They are okay as is. |
|
|
|
|
Open Friday |
|
|
|
|
They are okay as is. |
|
|
|
|
More access after office hours. |
Appendix
C
Table 1.
|
Day/Time |
Total Response |
Counter |
Response Rate |
|
Mon. 12-3 |
19 |
80 |
24% |
|
Mon. 3-5 |
15 |
31 |
48% |
|
Tues. 9-12 |
9 |
55 |
16% |
|
Tues. 3-5 |
18 |
39 |
46% |
|
Wed. 9-12 |
9 |
52 |
17% |
|
Wed. 3-5 |
14 |
35 |
40% |
|
Thurs. 12-3 |
18 |
51 |
35% |
|
Thurs. 3-5 |
6 |
35 |
17% |
|
Thurs. 5-8 |
7 |
44 |
16% |
|
Total |
115 |
422 |
27% |
Table 2.
|
|
Total |
|
|
Monday |
45 |
22% |
|
Tuesday |
31 |
15% |
|
Wednesday |
30 |
14% |
|
Thursday |
32 |
15% |
|
Friday |
41 |
20% |
|
Saturday |
30 |
14% |
|
|
209 |
|
Table 3.
|
|
Total |
|
|
Morning |
46 |
36% |
|
Early Afternoon |
45 |
35% |
|
Late Afternoon |
27 |
21% |
|
Evening |
11 |
9% |
|
|
129 |
|
Table 4.
|
Total |
|
Total 9a.m-12p.m. |
||||
|
Morning |
21 |
49% |
|
Morning |
9 |
47% |
|
Early Afternoon |
18 |
42% |
|
Early Afternoon |
5 |
26% |
|
Late Afternoon |
3 |
7% |
|
Late Afternoon |
4 |
21% |
|
Evening |
1 |
2% |
|
Evening |
1 |
5% |
|
|
43 |
|
|
|
19 |
|