San Francisco Public Library’s funding initiative, the Library Preservation Fund (LPF), renewed by voters in 2007, requires the Library to assess its hours of operation every five years through a public hearings process. The primary challenge was how to engage a diverse, strong representation of library users and non-users to ensure that any future decisions around library programs, services and open hours were optimal for addressing the myriad needs of all residents.

A partnership with the San Francisco Controller’s Office, vendor support for market research, and endorsement from the Mayor's Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs enabled SFPL to design a comprehensive review process that garnered widespread community attention and engagement in support of the organization. Critically important to better understanding opportunities for improving service to new target audiences and underserved populations, the survey queried non-library users about their reasons for not visiting a San Francisco library location over the past two years.

While the data presented a compelling business case for expanding hours at libraries citywide, the extensive research also informed establishment of baseline operating hours, which improve consistency and equity in service for all SF neighborhoods. Through expanded hours of operation at 27 locations, the 2000 bond issue for the Branch Library Improvement Program (B.L.I.P.) is now positioned to fully realize the vision for free and equitable access to all San Franciscans.

The success of SFPL’s robust expansion of access to library services is grounded in the careful stewardship of relationships with the S.F. Board of Supervisors, the Mayor’s Office, Library Commissioners and advocacy groups. Cultivation of strong intra-governmental partnerships with key City Departments, most notably Public Works and Parks & Recreation, has been integral to leveraging resources and spreading the success associated with the Library. Relationship building activities with key stakeholders is critical for laying the foundation to support innovation. In this civic engagement process, SFPL’s collaboration with the Controller’s Office for analysis of current library hours, visits, circulation and usage information was critical in determining how any expansion of hours should be designated.

Engaging the community included:

• Public hearings at 11 branches, representing each of the S.F. supervisorial districts. To ensure the greatest possible diversity, translators provided by the Mayor's Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs provided language translation at each hearing in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Russian. Closed captioning and American Sign Language translation were also provided for deaf and hearing impaired members of the public.
• Mobilization of the Council of Neighborhood Libraries as a conduit to promote dialogue among neighborhoods and city leaders.
• In-person, unbiased public intake surveys undertaken at every library location in S.F.; provided in five languages and resulting in 2,486 responses.
• Extensive engagement of SFPL staff in evaluating current hours and appropriate staffing levels for expansion proposals including an online survey that netted a 60% response rate.
• Online survey of SFPL users resulting in 500 completed surveys.
• Telephone survey of 302 residents who had not visited a library in the past two years.

The civic engagement process has allowed SFPL to identify strengths (Over 73% of survey respondents ranked library hours as good or very good at meeting their needs), while also understanding public interest in expanded hours (more than 64% of survey respondents would use the library more if it were open more hours). This process also identified the service areas of greatest need and illustrated inequity in hours of operation geographically. The tremendous amount of public input received led to clear mandates for SFPL to avoid any reduction in service and expand its operating hours. Thanks to the significant level of neighborhood and community participation, SFPL ensured that a balanced cross section of users and non-users were heard such that the findings could be applied to improve library service throughout San Francisco.

To date, SFPL has received Library Commission approval for a significant expansion of hours, effective 5/10/14, that would add approximately $1 million to the Library’s budget; open libraries 56 more hours per week; bring all libraries in San Francisco to a tiered baseline of 45, 50, 55 & 60 hours per week; and establish 7-day-per-week service at two-thirds of the city’s libraries by offering 5 additional days of service.

This project will ensure equity of library service citywide and establish a consistent level of hours for all branches. The long-term impact validates the tremendous community investment in the Branch Library Improvement Program and positions SFPL well for renewal of the Library Preservation Fund before its expiration in 2021.