Kings County Library system is one of the more impressive and expansive library systems in the United States. It boasts dozens of locations and thousands upon thousands of books, magazines, journals and other resources. However, it has become clear in recent months and years that the basic form and function of the library is not what it could or should be and the modernity and selection of the facilities is starting to falter. The patrons of the library system have made notice of issues that they see and the same is true of the people that work for the library themselves. Meetings and other operational activities are handled in a haphazard and inefficient way and this has led to work not being completed in a manner that is consistent with what is possible and perhaps required and demanded given the public funds used to keep the system going. Throwing good money after bad, to use an expression, is certainly not a solution but it is has become clear that some measures need to be taken to make operations the best for the most people and conducted in a way that is amicable for as many guests and employees alike. Given all of this, it is important to plan improvements and refinements that will emerge over the next decade and restore Kings County to the upper echelons of customer service and knowledge, such as should always be the case.One aspect of all of this that has become clear is that the problems are not hidden or hard to see. Indeed, when it takes an inordinate amount of time to get a new microfiche machine approved when one is clearly needed, that is a red flag. When requests and feedback rendered to the management of the library system can either be heeded or just get ignored with no feedback in the long run and it is a crapshoot as to which will happen, that is a red flag. There are just a few examples of the issue that have arisen and that need to be addressed. The larger goal and plan for the library is to prepare and move forward in a concerted and proper way for the year 2020. There are already a decent number of things that have been identified and there will surely be more as processes are corrected, tested, perfected and refined. Among the ones that are clearly on the itinerary, they are as follows:
• Inefficiency -- Since the Kings County Library system is in large part funded by the donations of the wealthy and the largesse of the public coffers, it is important that operations be handled in a way that balances utility and avoiding waste. There is a modest amount of money that could and should be spent to ensure that the proper expenditures are covered. It will be discussed what the proper balance and way of doing things should be when it comes to wasted motion and avoiding the same (Bartel & Harrison, 2016).
• Customer Satisfaction -- This has rendered in a number of ways. A good example is the video checkout system that exists. People like the facets of the system including the mail return option and the service in general. However, there is more than one title that is commonly in demand yet never available and the overall selection offered at this point is rather poor. In addition, there are other ways, mostly digital, that the library could offer that would allow for more consumption on demand, satisfaction for library patrons and perhaps even new and strong revenue streams for the library system. The customers and taxpayers are one and the same and they deserve to have a library system that is representative of the substantial investments that have been made (Miller, 2011).
• Reception of Feedback -- As noted earlier in this executive summary, the way in which feedback is received, considered and responded to is not done very well right now within the Kings system. Indeed, there are requests that get handled but that take a long time. Additionally, there are requests that are put forth and then eventually get forgotten about. This sort of inconsistency and lack of accountability needs to completely stop. Even if an idea is not financial reasonable or possible at a given time, all feedback should be given consideration with a straight "yes," "no" or at least a "we'll discuss further." If it comes to the latter, a firm date should be set as to when that discussion will take place. It should not simply be forgotten about or swept aside. Defining how that paradigm should...
King County Library System (KCLS)ReportThe Year 2020 PlanExecutive SummaryThe current culture of the library system can be described as ineffective, inefficient, and unproductive. The need for corrective measures to be undertaken so as to optimize the system for service delivery cannot be overstated. This will be the subject of the long-range plan. The problem to be addressed is two-fold. To begin with, there are inherent tensions at DAC that effectively
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