www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

The Move to Strategic Procurement - Outsourcing Collection Services

NSW Library InnovationsState Library of NSW

Friday 28th November 2008

www.rrl.nsw.gov.auwww.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Where are we?

RRL provides services to 9 LGAs:

CoolamonCootamundraGreater HumeGundagaiJuneeLockhartTemoraTumutWagga Wagga

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

What Are We?

Riverina Regional Library Profile

• Largest regional library in NSW (in terms of participating member Councils)• 13 stationary Libraries• 1 Mobile Library serving 24 communities• 105,848 residents across region• 25,000 sq km area• Active membership of 35,500• Annual issues of 540,000

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

The Riverina Region:• Wagga Wagga has largest population of approx. 59,000 – high rate of recent population growth• Vibrant regional city – university, army, air force, variety of industries• Wagga Wagga represents 55% of RRL• A number of smaller towns ranging from 200 – 12,000 population • High dependence on agriculture and associated industries• Drought affected• Mostly static or declining populations

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Our libraries:• Generally well supported by member Councils• Are real community focal points – sometimes the only public facility remaining in a town• Are multi-service providers in some cases (CTC, RTC, Post Office/Newsagency, co-located with schools)• Are facing increased community demand for collections, services and programs• Need to find a better balance between “process” tasks and customer service tasks

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Our staff:• RRL has a regional team of just 11.15 FTE staff:

• Regional Support Division• Director• Administrative Assistant• Regional Services Officer• Collection Services Officer• Collection Services Assistant• IT Co-ordinator• IT Assistant

• Regional Outreach Division• Programs & Promotions Coordinator• Service Development Officer• Children & Youth Services Librarian• Information Services Officer• Mobile Library Operator

•

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Our staff:• RRL has not had any increase in staffing level since 1995 – a period of 15 years• During this time:

• 2 additional member Councils have joined RRL bringing with them 3 branch libraries and 4 mobile library service points• Our resources expenditure doubled over a 5-year period• All of our libraries have become busier• There is growing client demand for additional services and programs• The pressure on RRL staff for collection services, support services and program delivery became unsustainable• We had to find new ways of looking at how we did things…… we wanted to manage the change rather than the change managing us

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Our “Collections to Clients” strategy:

• Redirecting the energy of the organisation from the traditional collections focus to a client focus

• Developing an “enabled” organisational structure

• Aligning the culture of the organisation

• Understanding client segments and what they want from our libraries

• Branding, promoting and marketing the organisation

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

“Collections to Clients” – how did we respond?• Established an enabling organisational structure

• service focussed rather than task focussed• new roles reflect new direction

• Established a “plan, do and review” philosophy of continuous improvement (supported by plan/review mechanisms)

• Rebadged the organisation region-wide• Focussed on technology capacity

• Mobile Library Telecentre• Riverina Live Project• New RRL website• RFID implementation

• Assessed “gold nugget” opportunities for improvement • Collection Services identified for review

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Collections & Resources Division Review 2007

• Brief included:• Review of current policies, processes and staffing• Assess future capacity of current arrangements• Detailed evaluation of RRL collection• Assess capacity of LMS to support data• Extensive stakeholder consultation• Research and identify best practice for collection services in Australian libraries• Recommend a preferred model for RRL• Make recommendations on organisational structure

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Collections & Resources Division Review 2007

Outcomes of the Review:• Transition to a strategic procurement model

•outsourcing of selection, cataloguing and processing• Appointment of three LGP approved suppliers• Extreme scrutiny of data sets (collection, loans, demographic, borrower)• Development of quality documentation based on quality assured data

• Collection Development Policy• Branch Profiles for all 14 libraries• Collection Specifications• Non-fiction Analysis for each branch

• Inclusive change management strategies to ensure staff engagement with this significant organisational shift

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Collections & Resources Division Review 2007

Outcomes of the Review:• Redeployment of staff resources into 4 new client focussed roles:

• Service Development Officer• Regional Services Officer• Collection Services Officer• Programs and Promotions Coordinator (not yet appointed)

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Collections & Resources Division Review 2007

Specific Improvement Opportunities:

• Improve collection procurement process• Reduce collection procurement cost per item (in 2004-05, it cost us $270,389 to get $342,163 worth of collection items onto the shelves)

• Integrate RFID implementation• Increase program and service provision to branch libraries• Look at areas of unmet demand

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Collections & Resources Division Review 2007

How are we measuring the outcomes?

• Internal KPIs• Loans• Turnover by collection type• Comparison between expenditure on & turnover of collection types• Cost per item of getting stock onto the shelves• Customer feedback (internal customers – branch Libraries)

• External KPIs• Average price per item• Average price of processing per item• Shelf ready cost per item• Cataloguing quality and performance• Customer survey 2009 – comparison with customer survey 2008

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Collections to Clients Strategy

What it means for RRL:

• Recognition that the role of libraries is changing• Acknowledging the importance of collection services, and developing “best-fit” models to provide them• Taking time to assess client demands and organisational capacity to meet them• Ongoing development of an “enabled organisation” through:

• robust planning mechanisms• relevant performance indicators• change management and staff engagement strategies• continuous improvement focus

• Maintaining a relevant library service

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Collections to Clients Strategy

What have we learnt?

• There is a big difference between providing great customer service and being a customer focussed organisation• There is a lot of power in statistics – get the most out of your LMS reporting capabilities• Change needs to be managed carefully, with all staff input and concerns acknowledged, considered and incorporated• Extensive quality documentation based on reliable data are critical• Liaise continuously with your suppliers

• Ensure that your needs are clear• Work collaboratively on problems• Be realistic about expectations – especially in Year 1

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au

Collections to Clients Strategy

What’s next? • Review of RRL Strategic Plan (expires in 2009)• Development of our Online Engagement Strategy

• Web 2.0 capability• expansion of online information content and access• optimising our website capability• engaging and training staff and clients• meeting our clients online

• Further collaboration with our neighbouring partner regional library service Upper Murray Regional Library • Review of collaborative opportunities with PLC SW Zone libraries

• all share the same LMS (Libero)• expansion of Strategic Procurement program• Zone-wide Web 2.0 upskilling

www.rrl.nsw.gov.au