New research will help libraries and other cultural organisations engage with new customers

Suffolk Libraries recently worked with The Audience Agency on an Arts Council England funded research project to gain a greater understanding of its current customer base and the perceptions of non-library users.

As well as providing a detailed report into the findings, The Audience Agency has created a practical and comprehensive toolkit to enable library and arts organisations to understand who uses their services and how the user benefits from them.

The toolkit is designed to move organisations away from simply capturing outputs to a place where they are better prepared to capture and evaluate outcomes.

The toolkit is designed to help library services develop a more consistent approach to data collection, monitoring impact and engagement with key audiences. It is hoped this toolkit will also provide a useful template for other cultural and voluntary organisations.

The Audience Agency is a charity which helps other organisations to deliver their creative vision, social purpose and business resilience, believing that arts, culture and heritage have the power to improve the quality of people’s lives, to create meaning and community, and to promote empathy and learning.

The Audience Agency’s report shows that engaged and active library users are appreciative of Suffolk Libraries and positive about their experience. The research found that Suffolk Libraries has an incredibly high Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 86. The Net Promoter Score is a measure used to gauge customer loyalty, satisfaction, and enthusiasm for an organisation or company. Any score over 80 is very rare and shows that customers value the organisation incredibly highly.

However, the report reveals that amongst non-users there are still barriers to using libraries, with awareness of the full range of services and benefits associated with library use still a big factor. Many of those who do use libraries are still unaware of the full range of services available.

The research includes some interesting data regarding the profile of people who use libraries in Suffolk. It has also provided insights which could provide very valuable to Suffolk Libraries and other library and cultural services when they are planning marketing activities, engaging with new audiences or developing new services.

Luke Burton, Director, Libraries at Arts Council England, said:

“It is always exciting to see this type of research being carried out and we were delighted to be able to fund this work. Understanding the people who use libraries is key for services to ensure they are providing activities and support that will have real impact in the communities they serve.

“Just as important, but far more challenging, is understanding the views and needs of those that don’t currently benefit from libraries and the vast breadth and depth of service they provide. This research will not only be of great benefit to Suffolk Libraires in developing their offer to fit community needs, but it has also produced a toolkit that other library services nationally can adapt and implement in order to benefit from the insights of this research, understand their audiences better and deliver even greater impact in their communities.  

“Libraries already offer everything from books, computer access and WiFi in safe accessible spaces to high quality business information, mental health support and cultural programmes. This research should hopefully help them tailor this to the needs of those they serve.”

Bruce Leeke, Chief Executive of Suffolk Libraries, added:

“This extensive research is particularly valuable to us and other library services, as it gives us a unique insight about customers and more importantly – the people who don’t use libraries and their perceptions. As other recent research has shown, the impact of what we do across communities makes a big difference to people’s wellbeing and there is still so much potential to reach and support even more people.

“Non-users are naturally more difficult to engage with as they are not regularly visiting libraries or aware of our marketing. We wanted to explore the reasons behind this and how we might make them customers of the future. Even regular users don’t always understand the wider range of services and activities available and with that in mind we are keen to rethink our approach.

“We’re now examining this very in-depth research and using it to shape our approach to future customer engagement and marketing. The Audience Agency have done a fantastic job and we know the research and toolkit will be of use to other organisations.”

The full toolkit can be accessed via the Suffolk Libraries website.

Some of the key findings of the research include:

88% of library users are active promoters and said they were very likely to recommend Suffolk Libraries services to their network of friends, family, and colleagues
88% of library users strongly agree that staff are friendly and welcoming and 78% strongly agree that the library is a place they enjoy visiting
60% strongly agree that visiting the library helps with their wellbeing
Most people who don’t use libraries are not aware of the full range of services and the role libraries could play in people’s lives beyond lending books
Many people think libraries are intended for social groups other than themselves. For example, for children, for older people and for less privileged people
Awareness and transport were given as major barriers to engagement for non-users
Only 25% of library users strongly agree they know what’s going on at their local library and 17% of those interviewed at the library were fully aware of the digital services offered by Suffolk Libraries
12% of people who use libraries do not have a library account/card
Amongst Suffolk Libraries customers users are more likely to be female and older than the general Suffolk population. 64% of active library members are women
The number of adults under 35 who are library users is below the county average but the number of over 70s and under 16s is above the county average.

The Audience Agency research was carried out via a number of face-to-face surveys of library users in September and October 2022. It was carried out at 27 libraries in Suffolk which account for 78% of library footfall across the county. Anonymised information from nearly 100,000 customer records were also analysed and a further 500 online survey responses also informed the report.