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By Katrina Wilson | Sponsored by Prince William Public Libraries
This March, Prince William Public Libraries wants to hear from the community. Through March 31, there are two opportunities for the public to contribute:
“Did you find” Needs SurveyTeen Writing Contest for high school juniors and seniors.
PWPL is seeking the public’s feedback through its “Did You Find What You Were Looking For?” survey. This short, six-question survey, available until March 31, should take less than two minutes to complete and will be available in both English and Spanish at each of its libraries and online.
Every year, PWPL hopes to get a better understanding from the community whether the library’s materials and online resources are meeting their needs.
The short survey helps the library get a better idea of how patrons are choosing materials and using the Digital Library. It also helps in deciding what to purchase in the future.
“In recent years, we’ve made changes to what we add to our collection, such as providing more digital resources and buying more of new book titles, based on responses from the survey,” said Kirk Johnson, PWPL’s Materials Services Division Chief.
PWPL wants to ensure that their additions to the collection are meeting the needs of their community.
“There’s really no better way to know we’re doing that than to ask for their feedback,” said Johnson. “This annual survey is an opportunity to get insights from the community about what they’re interested in and how we can continue to improve and enhance our collection and services.”
A few questions on the survey include “In the past 30 days, have you visited a library branch or used the Library’s online resources?” or “If you were browsing and not looking for anything specific, did you find something of interest?”
While PWPL has the survey as a tool to enhance the library, they also have a Teen Writing Contest for high school juniors and seniors to engage them more in the library and the quality services and programs it offers. One winner will be selected to win a $300 cash prize based on the question “What has the library meant to me in my preparation to becoming a new adult?”
The writing contest debuted in 2021; last year’s winner was Hosaena. Her winning essay can be read on PWPL’s Facebook page.
The Prince William Library Foundation is the sponsor of the Teen Writing Contest.
By submitting an essay to the contest, the recipient of the prize and their parent or guardian agree to allow Prince William Public Libraries to use their essay and photo(s) for promotional purposes.
Katrina Wilson graduated from Francis Marion University. You can follow her on Twitter at KatrinaMWilson_.