Getting a Good Read: Engaging patrons as partners helps libraries achieve total quality in service

Libraries began to see service competition for the first time in the 1990s, due to the Internet and Google. The necessity of being more customer-focused became apparent, and this resulted in the creation of LibQUAL+, a tool developed to quantitatively measure the quality of customer service (Saunders, 2007). While LibQUAL+ serves as a first step toward increasing quality and value for patrons, library commitment to responding to survey results is essential.

Although LibQUAL+ has been used by a wide range of libraries, this paper focuses on the use of LibQUAL+ by academic libraries, using two university libraries (Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh) as sample cases for assessing library response to survey results. The theme of engaging the patron as a partner is further explored by examining a procurement project at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Todd Bruns ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1197-2521