Library staff in Cumbria are reaching out to residents for help in building on the success of the county's already excellent service.
Cumbria County Council's library service is among the best in the country according to the Audit Commission which gave it a "good" rating in 2004. But library staff are always on the look out for ways to improve the service and keen find out from residents what more they can do to encourage people to make more use of the services on offer.
Anyone who has not visited their library for a while may not realise that the county council's libraries offer a whole host of services above and beyond traditional book lending. These include:
- Internet access
- Home delivery service for people who cannot easily get to a library.
- DVDs and CDs available for hire at many libraries.
- Sunday opening between noon and 4pm at the county's six main libraries with special activities for children and families.
- Family and local history research materials and expertise.
- On-line request and renewal service.
- Hire of computer games for PS2 and XBox at main libraries.
- Story-telling events and special courses teaching story-telling skills.
- Special events throughout the year such as 2004's successful Reading Africa week.
Councillor Roger Bingham, cabinet spokesman for culture, said: "Some people may not realise just how much is on offer at their libraries. The fact is that, as well as lending books and other traditional services, we now offer a whole lot more including DVD and computer games for hire, on-line requests and renewals and all sorts of things such as family history research facilities.
"We already have an excellent library service in the county, but we are always trying to improve. This survey should help us find out what we can do to reach more people. We are especially interested in finding out what will encourage our occasional users to visit their libraries more often."
As part of the drive to involve more people in library services, Cumbria County Council is sending a questionnaire to a sample of library card holders who have not used their cards recently asking what would encourage them to make more use of the services available.
The questionnaire can also be completed on-line by ollowing the links at www.cumbria.gov.uk
The consultation closes on February 28.