Authors

Carey Corrow, Gianna Campa, Chaitanya Kukreja

Research Question

Which services should Brooklyn Public Library offer at every branch, and which should be tailored to the needs of each neighborhood? The project explores how branches could be grouped into a small number of categories, so BPL can decide what goes where without managing 60+ unique environments.

Background

Brooklyn Public Library serves its neighborhoods through 60+ branches. Services start with the physical space: a welcoming environment with seating that is warm in winter and cool in summer, plus rooms for public use. Branches also offer free WiFi, public computers, printers and copiers, books in varying amounts across ages, categories and languages, community programs, and staff who help with everything from simple queries to in-depth research and tech support.

BPL must balance a consistent experience across locations with the unique needs of each community, while various departments push programs and initiatives out to the branches. It is beyond BPL's capacity for every branch to be all things to all people. As one of the country's largest and most innovative libraries, BPL regularly shares its work with the other NYC library systems, national library data leaders and conferences.

Methodology

The project involves:

• Defining which services, and to what degree, should be included at every location.
• Identifying which services should be tailored to individual neighborhoods.
• Grouping branches into 2–3 categories to simplify tailoring decisions, with a branch potentially belonging to different groups in different categories (for example, grouped with Branches B and C in one category but with Branches X and Y in another).
• Clarifying what matters most where, why, and what does not need to happen everywhere.

Deliverables

• Baseline Services Framework: A definition of services offered at every branch versus those tailored to neighborhoods.
• Branch Groupings: A set of category-based branch groups to guide decisions about what should go where.