Libraries and Total Quality: Making the Patron a Partner

Libraries began to see service competition for the first time in the 1990s, due to the Internet and Google. The necessity of being more customer-focused became apparent, and this resulted in the creation of LibQUAL+, a tool developed to quantitatively measure the quality of customer service (Saunders, 2007). While LibQUAL+ serves as a first step toward increasing quality and value for patrons, library commitment to responding to survey results is essential. Although LibQUAL+ has been used by a wide range of libraries, this paper focuses on the use of LibQUAL+ by academic libraries, using two university libraries (Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh) as sample cases for assessing library response to survey results. The theme of engaging the patron as a partner is further explored by examining a procurement project at the University of California at Los Angeles