December 18, 2012

Request for Public Library Staff to Respond to Pew Research Center
Questionnaire by Sunday December 23

The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project is in the
midst of a multi-year study
(http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2011/10/17/press-release/) exploring
the changing role of libraries in the digital age, funded by the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation. Our major report on “Libraries, Patrons,
and E-books (http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/06/22/libraries-patrons-and-e-books/)”
was enriched by many fascinating insights from the online panels that
so many librarians participated in. (That report and many others are
available online at a special section of our website at
libraries.pewinternet.org (http://libraries.pewinternet.org).) We are
now in the midst of the next phase of our research, and we need your
help!

Our current phase of research explores the experiences and
expectations of library users—how they use their libraries, what
services they utilize the most, and what resources they wish their
libraries offered. We’ve already completed a nationally representative
phone survey of Americans 16 and older about their library habits, but
we are also fielding a purely qualitative online questionnaire
targeted at library staff members in order to provide more context
about how libraries make decisions about services and programming.

This questionnaire is for any and all staff members at public
libraries. It briefly discusses various types of services and
resources, and invites you to share your thoughts about the current
(and future) state of libraries. The questionnaire is available at:

http://libraries.pewinternet.org/participate/survey/library-services


To log in, please use your preferred email address as your username;
the password is PEWLIBS.

Depending on the length of your answers, the survey should take about
10-20 minutes to complete; please feel free to skip any questions that
you do not feel able to answer. The questionnaire will be available
until Sunday, December 23rd.
All responses will be confidential, although your answers may be
quoted anonymously in a series of reports in early 2013. If you have
any questions, please contact Kathryn Zickuhr at
mailto:kzickuhr@pewinternet.org. We know
that this is a busy time of year, and would greatly appreciate your
time and assistance.

Thank you!
Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project Staff

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is one of seven projects that
make up the Pew Research Center. The Pew Research Center is a
nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues,
attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does so by
conducting public opinion polling and social science research; by
reporting news and analyzing news coverage; and by holding forums and
briefings. It does not take positions on policy issues.