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January-March Memorials, Gifts and Donations Libraries For the Future Update
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Libraries For the Future Update
The first phase of the program has been partially completed by the students
at the University of Texas Graduate School of Library and Information
Science. The students held 33 focus group meetings throughout the community.
These groups reflected the diversity of Austin and came from various
neighborhood organizations, the business community, community-based and
non-profit organizations, library customers, and traditional support groups.
This information is in the correlation process and will be presented in its
completed form at a future date. At a retreat in March, the preliminary
findings from this effort were presented to the Citizens' Task Force. Along
with the focus groups, the students conducted over 600 intercept surveys of
patrons at various library locations; the raw data was presented to the task
force at the April meeting. Members of the task force are presently
conducting interviews with key community leaders and plan to conduct
approximately 600 random telephone interviews with Austin citizens. At the April meeting there was a spirited discussion of the key themes that
had developed as a result of the information gathered to date. This
discussion will eventually lead to a final overall statement of purpose.
Subcommittee meetings covered various topics of concern, including: Programs
and Partnerships, Services and Technology, Public Relations and Market
Analysis, Fund Raising and Resource Development, Revenue and Structure, and
Facilities. On Wednesday, May 17, an invitation-only town meeting will be held in the
studios of KLRU-TV. All FAPL members who participated in focus groups and
surveys should receive an invitation. A panel of local leaders and national
library experts will discuss the future of Austin's libraries. Seating is
limited. A one-hour edition of this meeting will air on Friday, May 26 at
noon and 9 p.m. (Ch. 18/9) and Sunday, May 28 at 5 p.m. (Ch. 18/9) and 8
p.m. (Ch. 20). Check your listings for the Austin at Issue program. Ken LaRonde and Ann Stafford
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