Reviewing and reforming library service points: Lessons in review and planning services, building layout, and organizational culture

To support the success of their students and faculty, libraries have to understand changing user needs. Robust user assessment programs and analysis of service patterns can reveal many of those needs. Many libraries have responded to changing user expectations by consolidating service desks and providing better organization of user services. Recent advances in assessment have added to libraries’ capacity to refine the scope and goals of service desk mergers. Assessment and analysis support better conceptual frameworks for realigning organizational structures and overarching service models. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Using a renovation and organizational restructuring in Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville as a case study, this paper examines the assessment process, organizational restructuring, and physical renovation that resulted in service desks merging.

This study found that comprehensive and ongoing user assessment is crucial to planning for renovations and service changes. User needs awareness must then be linked with organizational models and service delivery systems. Service desk mergers will be successful when they result from thoughtful assessment and analysis.

Other case studies with assessment driven renovation projects, service desk mergers, and organizational changes would be useful to add to these findings.

This paper provides a process and framework for library leadership who are evaluating and revising service delivery models.

The perspectives and process described in this case study will be of value to improve library service delivery models.