Needs Assessment conducted for North Country Regional Library in Huntersville, NC

1. +
A Needs Assessment of the
Teen Department at North
County Regional Library
By Team 12: Hannah Drum, Sara Kay
Mooney, Bethany Reynolds, and Devon
Stokes

2. + Introduction
 Located in Huntersville, NC (pop. 50,000) – affluent northern
suburb of Charlotte
 Part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library System
 Open 6 days / week, 26 staff members, average monthly door
count: ~14,000
 Overall mission: “expand minds, empower individuals, enrich
our community”
 Other major priorities: community outreach & engagement; and
educational literacy
 Teen Department staff: Chantell (Head Teen Librarian)

3. +
Methods
 Three primary groups: Chantell, staff helping in the Teen
Department (three people), and teenage patrons
 Preliminary Interview: help understand context and discern
Teen Department’s Point of View
 Online and paper surveys of teen patrons
 Online survey of staff members

4. +
Analysis of Staff Survey Results
 Strengths
 staff enthusiasm
 “Newness” of Teen Dept. space
 Opportunities to grow
 Weaknesses
 not enough praise and feedback
 Inter-departmental support
 Suggestions
 Better program marketing
 School partnerships
 More diverse collection
 Educating staff in other departments

5. +
Analysis of Teen Survey Results
 When asked which school they attend, teenagers listed 19
different schools, though 4 were mentioned repeatedly, and
ought to be focused on when establishing library-school
collaborations.
 While Chantell has worked hard developing programs for teen
patrons, many teens aren’t aware of what is available to them.
Further marketing outreach is encouraged.
 While many teens agreed the library is a great resource and
said they’d be interested in volunteering there, many –
including Chantell - agreed the YA section is outdated.
 Survey results do show that Chantell’s efforts are paying off, as
teens agreed their new teen-specific section is “comfortable
and inviting.”

6. +
Conclusions & Recommendations
 Need for increased, more strategic communication

7. +
Final Reflection
 Major Obstacle: geographic distance  combatted with
consistent, frequent written communication online
 Lessons learned:
 Strong collaboration with staff led to higher participations among
those surveyed
 Strong marketing plan was also helpful
 Importance of sticking with a set timeline
 Overall, good opportunity to apply (and gain!) practical
administration/management skills
 Good opportunity to help a Department discern the needs of its
patrons

8. +
The End.
Thanks for watching!