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Medway Libraries' performance
Medway Libraries are committed to
being vital, inclusive resources at
the heart of the
community
Our promise to you:
- free membership;
- services appropriate to all in Medway, reflecting the diversity
of local people;
- letters responded to within 10 working days;
- emails responded to within five working days;
- prompt answering of the phone;
- fair and honest dealing with comments and complaints;
- friendly, helpful and courteous staff who will be well trained
to answer your enquiry;
- a high-quality website giving 24-hour access from home;
and
- if things go wrong, we will tell you and put them right.
Find out about our plans for
2010/11.
Quarterly performance figures
This section contains information on our monthly
performance across all our libraries in Medway.
|
Annual target |
October 2011 |
November 2011 |
December
2011 |
Forecast for 2011/12 |
| Number of items borrowed |
1,302,382 |
105,648 |
99,170 |
87,699 |
1,204,667 |
| Number of visitors |
1,164,959 |
96,226 |
93,528 |
80,396 |
1,097,189 |
| Number of sessions on library computers |
187,308 |
16,011 |
14,900 |
12,422 |
180,073 |
| Number of people attending library events |
45,600 |
3,907 |
4,164 |
3,437 |
44,027 |
| Number of enquiries |
No target |
20,055 |
19,544 |
16,129 |
247,241 |
| Percentage of comment cards, letters and emails answered within
10 days |
100% |
98.6% |
100% |
100% |
98% |
You said, we did
Medway Libraries are open to comments and suggestions from our
customers. Visit our 'you said, we did' page to view some of
the recent actions we have taken following your comments and
suggestions.
Library service survey summaries
Chatterbooks
The Chatterbooks survey was conducted amongst
15 young people attending Chatterbooks sessions during April 2011
at Twydall, Strood, Walderslade Village and Thomas Aveling School
and Community libraries.
Chatterbooks participants is considered by
those young people taking part to have a demonstrable and positive
impact upon them, encouraging them to develop their reading skills,
increasing their confidence and giving them the opportunity to make
new friends.
Chatterbooks predominantly attracts existing
eight to 11-year-old library members to take part in the sessions
and largely these young people are white girls.
Over time, Chatterbooks seems able to retain
their participation, sometimes for years, fostering a love of
language and literature in those who take part to the extent that
the majority of those involved would recommend the activity to a
friend, and are willing advocates of taking part in the
sessions.
Full Chatterbooks report.
Baby Bounce and Rhyme
The Baby Bounce and Rhyme survey was conducted during February
2011. Parents and adults participating in Baby Bounce sessions at
Gillingham, Chatham, Wigmore, Hoo, Luton, Lordswood, Walderslade
Village, Rainham, Grain, Hempstead, Twydall and Walderslade Hook
Meadow libraries were asked for their views on the event.
Baby Bounce and Rhyme is popular and well
regarded by those adults who attend the sessions. It is equally
effective at attracting new participants as it is retaining
existing ones, and many attend following word of mouth
recommendations.
The songs and rhymes are so beneficial to the
children taking part in the sessions that most parents continue to
use them outside of the library, and on the whole the participants
feel that Baby Bounce is of great benefit to both the children and
adults in attendance, offering children an opportunity for social
interaction with their peers, boosting their confidence and
development and creating an opportunity to have some fun whilst
adults equally benefit from the social aspect of the sessions, the
reduced isolation, and the potential assistance with developing
their parenting skills and confidence the sessions can give.
The library is seen as a great environment for
such an activity to take place and as such Baby Bounce and Rhyme
comes highly recommended, with most participants willing to
advocate the merits if taking part, and in great depth.
Full Baby bounce and rhyme report.
Home library service
A survey of home library service users was conducted
during the second quarter of 2010/11 and was completed by 6 per
cent of those receiving the at home service from Medway
Libraries.
Medway Libraries’ Home Library Service comes highly recommended
by respondents to this survey, and they value the service
enormously for the contribution it makes to their quality of
life.
The social and literary enjoyment that service users seem to
enjoy is in part due to the helpful staff and couriers who help to
run the service, and this ensures retention of customers over long
periods.
Readers' groups
A survey of our readers' groups was conducted during
quarter one of 2010/11 and was completed by members of Medway
Libraries’ Readers Groups consisting of attendees from
Cuxton, Lordswood, Rainham and Rochester
plus eight attendees from the VIP Readers Group at Chatham
Library.
Medway Libraries Readers Groups have a demonstrable and positive
impact upon the lives of those who attend, with people returning
consistently to enjoy socialising with others similarly interested
in broadening their literary knowledge and stimulating
conversation.
Full Reader's group report.
Summer reading challenge
A survey of parents and/or guardians of 104 children who took
part in The Summer Reading Challenge was conducted during September
and October 2010. This represented 4 per cent of
starters to the challenge, and 8 per cent of those completing
the challenge of reading six books.
The Summer Reading Challenge is considered to have a
demonstrable and positive impact on the children taking part,
encouraging them to read, increasing their confidence and being fun
to take part in too.
The conclusion was that most parents/guardians would recommend
the activity to a friend.
Full Summer reading challenge report.
Adult PLUS survey results
PLUS surveys are nationally recognised surveys which are
conducted for adult and children's library services on a three-year
rota. Here are the results from Medway Libraries' last survey
that took place during 2009.
The table below shows the percentage of customers who rated
these areas of the library as very good or good.
| Area |
Percentage |
| A safe place to visit |
95.7% |
| Overall satisfaction with the library |
91.5% |
| Opening hours |
90.9% |
| Overall information service |
83.6% |
| Attractiveness of the library inside |
83% |
| Choice of books |
77.8% |
| Computer facilities |
76.4% |
The children's PLUS survey was carried out during
September/October 2010 and results of this survey will be shown on
this page as soon as the analysis is complete.
Comments and suggestions
If you would like to comment on any area of our
service, have any suggestions on how to improve our service or
have any stock suggestions, contact us using the information
below.
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