Balanced Scorecards for Public Libraries

A Two-Year Project Awarded to the Carlsbad City Library Funded by the Institute of Museums and Library Services

Need: For the past several years, considerable attention has been focused on developing outcome-based measures of library services. Yet, despite all of these projects, frustration persists among Public Library Directors, Library Board members, members of City Councils and other library decision makers. What IS the value of the public library? What performance measures should a library be collecting and communicating to decision makers and other stakeholders? The purpose of this project is to obtain the reaction of decision makers about the utility of the Balanced Scorecard concept and to work with a number of libraries to develop a process to create the scorecard and choose the most appropriate set of performance measures for each specific library. The development of a Library Scorecard continues the IMLS focus on outcome-based evaluation.

Project Objectives: The objectives of this project are to:

  • Assess the resources required for a library to create and implement a Library Scorecard.
  • Determine if there are unique problems that occur as the size of the library increases during the process to create a Library Scorecard.
  • Assess the utility of the Library Scorecard for the library director and other members of the library management team as they seek to communicate the value of the public library.
  • Assess the utility of the Library Scorecard from the perspective of the library's stakeholders (library decision makers, library patrons, and other interested individuals).
  • Create a workbook that would document the process to create a Library Scorecard.

Project Activities: The activities of the project will include:

Year One -

  • Working with staff of each library to develop a Library Scorecard that reflects the vision and strategies of the library.
  • Share a draft of the Library Scorecard with library stakeholders to obtain their reactions and fine-tune each library's scorecard.
  • Produce a Developing a Library Scorecard Workbook by the end of the first year of the project.

Year Two -

  • Test the Developing a Library Scorecard Workbook with at least twenty-four (24) small, medium and large public libraries across the U.S.
  • Evaluate the utility of the Library Scorecard among library directors, library staff members and stakeholders.
  • Evaluate the utility of the Library Scorecard among the library's stakeholders.
  • Incorporate the comments and reactions of those who have tested the workbook and produce a final version of Developing a Library Scorecard Workbook.

Participating Libraries: The Carlsbad City Library, the Cerritos Public Library, the Chula Vista Public Library, and the Newport Beach Public Library.

Anticipated Results: It is anticipated that library stakeholders will have a better sense of the direction and accomplishments of the public library and will welcome the use of the Library Scorecard.

Dissemination: Project information will be disseminated primarily through the production of the Developing a Library Scorecard Workbook. This workbook will provide a recommended process for any library to develop a Library Scorecard as well as document any lessons learned as a result of this project. It is anticipated that this workbook will be made available for downloading from a Web site as well as published so that it can be distributed widely. It is also anticipated that some of the library directors and the consultant will prepare papers for submittal to library and information science journals and speak at library conferences about the utility of a Library Scorecard.