Given that Corona Research serves clients from across all three major sectors (nonprofit, public, and private) and a wide variety of industries, we cannot help but notice when we retain a “cluster” of clients from the same industry. This makes us curious. After all, we’re researchers, and we naturally gravitate toward considering the themes, patterns, and driving forces behind our clients’ requests, and how they might lend insight into larger industry trends. 

We’re fortunate to have had a cluster of projects lately in public library-related market research. Public libraries, commonly considered repositories of information for the community’s consumption, are turning the tables and are now gathering information from the community.  Analysis of constituents’ answers to research questions provides planning guidance, and some of the questions that libraries increasingly ask include: “What library services do you need?” and “How can your local public library most effectively serve you?”  

The research that the Corona team conducted shows that public libraries are focusing on answers to the aforementioned questions from their current as well as potential customers – specifically those that are underserved. It’s clear that proactive public libraries desire to be more responsive to the needs of their constituents and to serve a broad customer base that’s reflective of their communities’ overall demographic makeup.

Local libraries are finding that they must tailor and expand their services and programs to meet specific needs and to remain relevant.  The Denver Public Library recognized these facts and retained our firm to test reactions to six different library concepts across 10 focus groups. Respondents provided feedback on library models ranging from the “Youth Inspiration” concept that specializes in the provision of children’s materials and self-directed children’s activities to the “Contemporary” concept, which provides the look and feel of a bookstore, including comfortable seating, a coffee shop, and wireless Internet access.   

Other libraries that we have worked with have recognized the need to remain relevant by better serving specific demographic segments. For example,

As libraries continue to react to community feedback, expect traditional library models to change. While it appears that classic book stacks and your favorite librarian will not become extinct, don’t be surprised to find new web-based services such as downloadable books and new physical layouts that accommodate amenities ranging from coffee shops to classrooms. The “look and feel” of tomorrow’s library will be quite different from what your neighborhood library looks like today.

Latest Trends in Market Research

Surveying a young population? Teenagers are among the toughest groups to get an accurate read on. The good news is that Internet Messaging may be the way to connect with this group. According to a Marketing News article by Deborah Vence, teenagers are the heaviest Internet Messaging (IM) users. She suggests that they’re more likely to answer an IM survey honestly because this is a medium that they trust. A study by Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2005 revealed that, “IM has become the digital communication backbone for teens in the United States.”

• Allow your research firm to suggest options. Corona provides years of expertise for the most value-added approach to research.
  
  
• Understand what your research firm really means. Corona reports for managers as well as technical staff. Our easy-to-read reporting style has won accolades from our clients.
  
  
• View research as a team effort. Corona colaborates with clients in a way that integrates the expertise of those we serve with our technical knowledge to optimize the outcome of the research. 

I am an analyst in the qualitative practice at Corona Research, so the majority of what I do involves focus groups and one-on-one interviews.  Just as everyone probably feels about their job descriptions, I don’t think that my summary describes everything that I truly love about my job. I moderate focus groups, design research instruments, analyze the content of discussions, and write reports based on our findings, but that doesn’t tell you what being an analyst really means. My job as an analyst requires me to watch the world with a photographer’s eye, listen like a counselor, and inquire like a child.