Library Services customer engagement strategy

Review note

This Customer Engagement Strategy will be reviewed annually to ensure it remains relevant; to update Operational Plan projects flowing from it and to maintain flexibility in methods of consultation. A new Customer Engagement Strategy is expected to be developed to align with a new Library Services Strategy in Summer 2023.

Background and purpose

Library Services is at the heart of the student and academic experience at UWL. Our Library Services are designed on the basis that engagement with library resources and expertise are key to raising attainment. We achieve this with spaces that are academic while also welcoming and inclusive of all students, reflecting our University's exemplary record in widening participation to higher education and the value we place on our institutional mission of extending higher education to those traditionally excluded from it. We are committed to adding real value to our students’ lives, by knowing who our students are and ensuring their voice is centred in our decision-making.

A key priority for the University is that it provides a high-quality student experience reflected in both service design and development. That our libraries are safe, welcoming and inclusive is foremost in the Strategy with students and their increased satisfaction placed alongside excellence in customer service delivery at the head of the new strategy.

Continuous communication and consultation with our customers is a vital component of building and maintaining our relationship and of demonstrating our commitment to a quality customer service. It is therefore appropriate that in the design and maintenance of our services, we enable our customers to be involved. Two-way communication is intrinsic to everything that we do.

The purpose of this Customer Engagement Strategy is to expand on the first priority of the Library Services Strategy; offering a transformative educational experience. It sets out how we will enable our vision of being representative and inclusive of the communities we serve, how we will inspire academic attainment and how we will maintain the high-quality customer service at our core.

This strategy is in four parts:

1. Customer Identification – how we will identify who our customers and potential customers are.
2. Customer Consultation – how we actively consult and engage with these customer groups in order to identify what they want from the library service, and then develop services that are appropriate to and meet their needs and requirements.
3. Customer Communication – how we communicate with our customers including how we receive and respond to comments, feedback and complaints. 
4. Customer Service Standards – how we monitor and measure satisfaction with our services and demonstrate our commitment to continuous improvement.

Customer identification

Our customers include current students, staff and researchers of the University and stakeholders including student and staff or academic partnership institutions, alumni, visitors, honorary staff and the University governing body.

Data on these users and their resultant use of the Library is collected in a number of ways:

• We maintain records of visitor use such as those by members of reciprocal university library schemes and members of the public.
• We target different customer groups in specific ways, by undertaking more focused analysis of their use of Library Services.

Equality and diversity within Library Services

Library Services provides inclusive services in line with the University’s Equality and Diversity Statement, which states we are committed to providing the highest quality study and working environment where all staff, students, visitors, contractors, and other stakeholders are welcomed. The University also recognises that students and staff members have different needs and that these may also be shaped by their family responsibilities or their socio-economic backgrounds.

UWL has an exemplary record in widening access and participation to higher education and Library Services have been designed around this mission. Our approach to customer engagement is particularly to engage those groups traditionally excluded from and marginalised within higher education, and in doing so we have regard to intersectionality of students’ identities. We do this in close collaboration with key partners including our peer Professional Services departments and UWLSU.

These priorities are captured in the Library Services Strategy 2018-2023:

• That our libraries are safe, welcoming and inclusive of all students.
• Our service design and development, continuous improvement and decision making is all rooted in User Experience (UX) research.
• Students are placed at the heart of the service with the increased satisfaction of those from underrepresented backgrounds and groups prioritised in delivering excellent customer service.
• Collaborating and engaging across the university and with our wider learning communities to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students.
• Improving qualitatively the student experience across UWL’s three sites reflecting students changing needs and expectations.

Customer consultation

The views of our customers inform existing service provision and our planning. Through regular consultation using a variety of different methods, we ensure the active participation of our customers and potential customers, and their engagement with the library and its services.

a) Regular channels of communication

Our customers can contact the library using a range of different communication methods including in-person visits, telephone, email, social media and online chat. Customers are encouraged to comment and provide feedback on the service, and we operate a complaints policy that works alongside that of the University. This policy is set out on the Library website and on posters throughout the libraries. Awareness of the complaints policy is a key expectation of our staff, in order to ensure that should customers wish to complain, the correct procedures are followed.

All complaints, comments and feedback are recorded centrally and reviewed on a regular basis by the Head of Library Service Delivery including a review of formal complaints within our Annual Report. Where customer comments lead to new or revised services we publicise these – both through regular channels and on the You Asked We Listened section of the website.

Key Performance Indicators and Service Standards are set for responding to complaints and requests for help or advice.

b) Internal satisfaction surveys

We provide regular specially focused opportunities for feedback such as single-question surveys about particular issues of interest.

c) National and University surveys

The National Student Survey (NSS) and Postgraduate Experience Surveys (PRES and PTES) provide data on use of the Library and satisfaction with its services. Free text comments are also analysed and used to drive continuous improvement and to inform new and modified services.

The University carries out Module Evaluation Surveys twice a year, which also produces satisfaction data on the library with free text comments used to inform continuous improvement in Library Services down to module level.

The Library Management Team review all the responses to these surveys and use them for planning purposes.

d) School and College liaison

The Academic Support team maintain regular contact with University academic and administrative staff by embedded working within their Schools. Staff attend School Boards and course committees where students are also represented. Comments about the Library from these forums are fed back to the wider Library Team for action.

e) UWL Students' Union

The Library Management Team meet regularly with the Student Union sabbatical officers and executive staff. These meetings provide a forum which centres the student voice in highlighting issues and concerns affecting students’ experience of library services and for us to consult on new services.

f) UWL internal governance

As part of UWL’s governance, Library staff attend committee meetings across the University where they engage with students and both academic and Professional Services representatives. These include cross-University meetings such as the Student Experience Forum and NSS Steering Group, and those more exclusive to the academic and research communities. These meetings often lead to actionable insight on Library Services which are fed back to the Library team.

g) User experience (UX) research and scholarship

User experience research and other investigations based on qualitative methods are key to our customer engagement. These methods allow us to surface rich insight into staff and student experience of Library Services. As a strategic priority, UX work forms a strand in the Library Services Operational Plan each year and covers all aspects of library services and space.

h) Comments cards and Comments Board

We regularly use Comments Cards to carry out quick surveys of overall satisfaction with the service. There is also a Comments Board at the entrance to the library where library users can write comments about the service.  We may use the Board itself to respond to these.

i) Library Services staff

We encourage and facilitate our staff to feed back their ideas and views about the service and how it can be improved. Regular all staff meetings as well as team meetings, appraisals, one-to-ones and cross-service project groups ensure that staff are consulted and are able to contribute. The Library Management Team maintains an open door policy.

Customer communication

We provide customers and potential customers with information regarding the full range of our services and keep them informed about changes as an essential element of our work.

Customers can contact us using a range of different communication methods including in-person, telephone, email, social media, and online chat which operates during staff hours. We also use these channels to respond directly to customers. Where customer feedback leads to new or revised services we use these channels to publicise actions as well as the You Asked We Listened section on the library website. Each year the Library participates in University-wide campaigns that celebrate students’ achievements and pride in our work.

The Library website is our main forum for providing information to our customers. It is external facing and provides useful information about the library and its services to both current and potential students as well as anyone else who uses or is interested in our services. A Marketing and Communications Group consisting of representatives from each of the library teams and chaired by the Head of Library Service Delivery has oversight of the website content and appearance. The Head of Library Service Delivery meets regularly with the University web content team to ensure that we are kept abreast of technical changes and to discuss methods of improving content and display of our information. We receive regular data regarding website use including popularity of pages and dead links which we respond to.

The website is used to publicise our opening hours, contact methods and policy and regulations. A series of subject specific guides provides course-based information support to students and a Frequently Asked Questions section enables us to focus on providing key information to our customers.

Customer service standards

We monitor and measure the performance of library services against defined service standards and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These are subject to regular review and are published on the Library website as well as in other reports including the Library Services Annual Report which is integrated with the University’s quality assurance processes.

Review

Our Customer Engagement Strategy is reviewed annually to ensure that it is relevant. This strategy will then be fully reviewed every three years in order to reflect the Library planning process.