| 1. |
To construct as an analytical
framework a matrix that identifies categories of patrons and service use common to the
five major (but distinct)urban public libraries participating in the study; |
| 2. |
To identify the nature of benefits
received by each class of patron for each type of service used; |
| 3. |
To develop survey and database
methods of measuring the direct benefits of library services to each of the classes of
patrons; |
| 4. |
To quantify these benefits in
current dollars to permit calculation of the return to annual taxpayer investment in each
of the five participating libraries; |
| 5. |
To develop effective means of
communicating to library constituents and to the general public the meaning of the
estimated return and the value derived from taxpayer investment in their library; |
| 6. |
To evaluate the success of the
framework, survey instruments, benefit measures, and communication strategies with respect
to: |
|
a. |
The value of the analytical framework in
assisting a library’s administrators to visualize their mission in terms of the
service menu provided to specific sub-markets within their customer base; |
|
b. |
The value of the analytical framework in
assisting library administrators to quantify the impacts of effective allocation and
delivery of services on perceived direct benefits by classes of customers; |
|
c. |
The extent to which the framework provides a
defensible floor for the estimated return to public investment in urban libraries,
individually and for the five libraries as representative urban libraries; |
|
d. |
The extent to which information about the
return to taxpayer investment influences constituent and taxpayer attitudes toward urban
libraries; |
|
e. |
The degree to which the methodology developed
is cost effective and transportable to other urban libraries. |
| 7. |
To disseminate the results of the
study and train administrators of other major urban libraries in applying the
transportable methodology to calculate their own estimates of return to taxpayer
investment. |
