The Review of the J .A. Turner Professional Library Part II: The Qualitative Component

Authors

  • Catherine E. Wilkins

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26443/el.v16i2.27

Abstract

The setting for this study was the J.A. Turner Professional Library which is the central corporate Professional Library for the Peel Board of Education which is the largest Public School Board in Canada. The library also provides library services for educators in graduate programs at Brock University, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, York University, and the Faculty of Education University of Toronto to support their professional development and continuing education needs. The focus for the study were the Peel and Brock consumer groups so as to allow for comparisons. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the services and resources of theJ.A. Turner Professional Library by ascertaining the views and opinions of two consumer groups of the Professional Library at the Peel Board of Education. The author initiated the evaluation for several reasons including: her belief that the library as a service component of the organization must ensure that it's objectives fit the organizational culture and as the Peel Board was committed to organizational renewal i.e., strategic planning so was the library. The sample consisted of library users drawn from two consumer groups of which there were 127 Peel and 50 Brock users, and 32 Peel and three Brock stakeholders. The data collection consisted of a self-reporting questionnaire and selected interviews. For the purpose of analysis the responses were divided into the following two groups Peel Board of Education and Brock users. The results indicate that there is a high level of support for the J.A. Turner Professional Library. The interviews provided future directions for the development of the J .A.Turner Professional Library. The study closes with a series of recommendations to enhance the operation of the J.A. Turner Professional Library within the organizational context of the Peel Board of Education.

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Published

2017-09-05