On April 15, we previewed the Search Conference for those who attended. Participants had the opportunity to engage in a discussion of external trends and forces affecting the Chester County Library System, and to vote for those trends and issues they felt were especially important to consider. The results, below, will be part of the data considered in the planning process.
You'll note that not everything on the list of Top Trends is actually a trend. In fact, the top vote-getter is actually a conclusion based on the observation of several trends. No matter--the information is still very helpful.
Trend
|
Number of Votes |
| Need to change library success measures |
9 |
| Technology is changing role of libraries |
8 |
| Economy will dirve the need to re-think core services |
7 |
| Increasing needs for community cemters |
7 |
| Increasing diversity, including Arabic, Indian, Amish, Lation, and African-American populations |
6 |
| Partnering for money, gain economies of scale, eliminate duplication of services |
6 |
| Need for information literacy and critical thinking skills |
5 |
| Lack of funding |
4 |
| Library is for the users, not the staff |
4 |
| Population is aging |
3 |
| Increasing advocacy |
2 |
| Shift from 'patrons' to 'customers' |
2 |
| MLS skill set changes |
2 |
| Shift in the way digital natives find information--kids don't come to the library to 'look for stuff' |
2 |
| Should we be multi-taxing or simplifying the tax structure? |
1 |
| Mainstream includes disabled |
1 |
| Sharper delineation of generations |
1 |
| Change from rural to suburban |
1 |
| Role of reference librarian is changing |
1 |
| OPACS are not evolving fast enough |
1 |
| Lots of educational choices" charter schools, private schools online schools, homeschools |
1 |
| Green facilities |
1 |
| Collection development decisions will be based on economic factors |
1 |
| Communities need neutral, non-partisan places |
1 |
| Need for immediacy--if you can't deliver in 6 seconds, you've lost people |
1 |
| Increased demand for virtual/online services such as virtual branches |
1 |
| Technology is ubiquitous and transparent |
1 |
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