MEETING OF COUNCIL - Town of Cambridge

COUNCIL MINUTES
TUESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2012
collection mechanisms include customer feedback forms, statistical analysis and event
evaluation forms.
72% of surveys were completed by females and 28% by males which is a similar
representation to the membership ratio (62% female: 38% male).
Opinion of Public Libraries
When asked “What statement is closest to your opinion of public libraries” the most significant
response (64%) was “Libraries are vital for an informed society”. This represents a decrease of
16% from 2010. However, this reduction is offset by the increase from 9% to 21% in the
response "Libraries have a role in lifelong learning and providing opportunities for people to
connect". This result appears to reflect the community perception that the role of the public
library is increasing in providing information in different formats, including online and through
guest speaker programmes, Baby Rhyme Time, weekly story time sessions and holiday
programmes.
As with the previous two surveys, no one viewed libraries as outdated institutions.
90
80
Patron opinion of Cambridge Library
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
2006
2008
2010
2012
0
Vital for
informed
society
Source of
information
increasing
Role in life
long learning
increasing
No opinion
Source of
information
decreasing
Outdated
2006 69 12 7 7 4 1
2008 74 13 10 1 2 0
2010 80 5 9 5 1 0
2012 64 11 21 3 1 0
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