12 · Survey Results: Executive Summary
basic collection of materials, a regular staff, and estab-
lished hours, with a budget and policies determined
by the central library.”2
For the purposes of this survey, the authors de-
cided to study ARL libraries’ staffed service outlets,
service desks, and branch libraries, to learn whether
they are being newly added, closed, consolidated, or
otherwise reconfigured during the last three years.
The authors learned that the concepts of added and
closed are relatively straightforward, but the concepts
of consolidated and otherwise reconfigured are not.
Although Kreitz does define consolidation as “the
merger of two or more separately administered li-
braries, or organizational units within a library, into
one unit under a single administration, usually for
reasons of efficiency and/or economy or to improve
quality of service,”3 survey respondents often de-
scribed their library’s changes by using verbs that
more adequately defined what they were describing
including integrate, combine, merge, and expand –a situ-
ation that somewhat complicated comparisons. Many
libraries mention integrating service desks (where in-
tegrating and consolidating seemed to the authors to
be roughly synonymous), but when discussing branch
libraries, integrating them seemed to be a very differ-
ent thing from consolidating them (where integrating
meant to interfile all the books in LC call number
order and consolidating meant moving and housing
more discrete pieces).
Kreitz’s dictionary defines reconfigure in terms
of systems terminology “to change the way the data
is structured in a computer system”4 that has been
borrowed and broadened in the present day to en-
compass library organizational systems. In the sur-
vey, respondents reported additional service point
and branch library reconfigurations ranging from
a change of hours or aesthetic remodeling to more
drastic rearrangements that reflect changes in the
nature of the service such as changes in staffing, orga-
nizational reporting structure, or replacing a physical
service desk with a virtual one.
To study all of the changes in staffed service points
that this survey afforded, the authors both read each
respondents’ answers as a case study and also con-
sidered the compilation of responses in total as is
reproduced in its entirety for readers as the Survey
Questions and Responses section of this document. A
comparison of variables such as size of library, enroll-
ment, budgets, number of staff, and even total number
of branch libraries and/or staffed service points was
beyond the scope of this analysis.
Changes in Library Service Points and Branch
Libraries
The survey first asked whether any staffed service
point in the main library or a branch library that
reports to the system had been added, closed, con-
solidated, or otherwise reconfigured during the last
three years. Fifty-two respondents (88%) answered
yes seven (12%) answered no. When asked to quantify
changes in their libraries, 47 respondents reported 149
changes to service points, and 27 reported 53 changes
to branch libraries. The changes were both minor and
major in scope. The respondents who changed service
points reported more consolidations (56) and recon-
figurations (53) than closures (27) or additions (13). The
respondents who changed branch libraries were more
likely to close them (27 branches) than to consolidate
(11), reconfigure (9), or add them (6).
Each of the fifty-two respondents provided de-
tails for one service delivery configuration (questions
3–17). Twenty-one of them provided details for a sec-
ond service delivery configuration (questions 18–32).
Although the survey recorded reconfigured
changes made in the last three years, there was di-
versity in the changes that the respondents had made.
While seven respondents reported that no changes
to either service points or branch libraries occurred
during the last three years (and two of the seven did
not anticipate changes in the next three years), on the
other side of the spectrum, several respondents con-
firmed that changes in service points and/or branch
libraries have been a constant feature in their organi-
zations for at least 15 or more years.
Additions
The authors looked closely at the many changes re-
ported for trends that could be considered typical, but
instead found very unique changes that fulfilled the
library mission and reflected the nature of the institu-
tion. In considering service points, the most common
change reported was the addition of a consolidated
basic collection of materials, a regular staff, and estab-
lished hours, with a budget and policies determined
by the central library.”2
For the purposes of this survey, the authors de-
cided to study ARL libraries’ staffed service outlets,
service desks, and branch libraries, to learn whether
they are being newly added, closed, consolidated, or
otherwise reconfigured during the last three years.
The authors learned that the concepts of added and
closed are relatively straightforward, but the concepts
of consolidated and otherwise reconfigured are not.
Although Kreitz does define consolidation as “the
merger of two or more separately administered li-
braries, or organizational units within a library, into
one unit under a single administration, usually for
reasons of efficiency and/or economy or to improve
quality of service,”3 survey respondents often de-
scribed their library’s changes by using verbs that
more adequately defined what they were describing
including integrate, combine, merge, and expand –a situ-
ation that somewhat complicated comparisons. Many
libraries mention integrating service desks (where in-
tegrating and consolidating seemed to the authors to
be roughly synonymous), but when discussing branch
libraries, integrating them seemed to be a very differ-
ent thing from consolidating them (where integrating
meant to interfile all the books in LC call number
order and consolidating meant moving and housing
more discrete pieces).
Kreitz’s dictionary defines reconfigure in terms
of systems terminology “to change the way the data
is structured in a computer system”4 that has been
borrowed and broadened in the present day to en-
compass library organizational systems. In the sur-
vey, respondents reported additional service point
and branch library reconfigurations ranging from
a change of hours or aesthetic remodeling to more
drastic rearrangements that reflect changes in the
nature of the service such as changes in staffing, orga-
nizational reporting structure, or replacing a physical
service desk with a virtual one.
To study all of the changes in staffed service points
that this survey afforded, the authors both read each
respondents’ answers as a case study and also con-
sidered the compilation of responses in total as is
reproduced in its entirety for readers as the Survey
Questions and Responses section of this document. A
comparison of variables such as size of library, enroll-
ment, budgets, number of staff, and even total number
of branch libraries and/or staffed service points was
beyond the scope of this analysis.
Changes in Library Service Points and Branch
Libraries
The survey first asked whether any staffed service
point in the main library or a branch library that
reports to the system had been added, closed, con-
solidated, or otherwise reconfigured during the last
three years. Fifty-two respondents (88%) answered
yes seven (12%) answered no. When asked to quantify
changes in their libraries, 47 respondents reported 149
changes to service points, and 27 reported 53 changes
to branch libraries. The changes were both minor and
major in scope. The respondents who changed service
points reported more consolidations (56) and recon-
figurations (53) than closures (27) or additions (13). The
respondents who changed branch libraries were more
likely to close them (27 branches) than to consolidate
(11), reconfigure (9), or add them (6).
Each of the fifty-two respondents provided de-
tails for one service delivery configuration (questions
3–17). Twenty-one of them provided details for a sec-
ond service delivery configuration (questions 18–32).
Although the survey recorded reconfigured
changes made in the last three years, there was di-
versity in the changes that the respondents had made.
While seven respondents reported that no changes
to either service points or branch libraries occurred
during the last three years (and two of the seven did
not anticipate changes in the next three years), on the
other side of the spectrum, several respondents con-
firmed that changes in service points and/or branch
libraries have been a constant feature in their organi-
zations for at least 15 or more years.
Additions
The authors looked closely at the many changes re-
ported for trends that could be considered typical, but
instead found very unique changes that fulfilled the
library mission and reflected the nature of the institu-
tion. In considering service points, the most common
change reported was the addition of a consolidated
