Australia public library analysis

Charlie Chen | Student ID: 00004301 | April 15, 2014
Australia Public Library
Challenge Analysis and
Strategy Recommendation
MANAGERIAL MARKETING 24800

Contents
Part One ................................................................................................................... 2
BACKGROUND OF AUSTRALIA PUBLIC LIBRARY............................................. 2
THE ENVIRONMENTAL/SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS......................................... 3
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE SECTOR ................................................ 4
GEOGRAPHIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS................................................. 4
ECONOMIC (INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL) FACTOR........................................... 5
REGULATION/LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT..................................................... 5
TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT ..................................................................... 5
SOCIAL/CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT................................................................... 6
MARKET ANALYSIS & SEGMENTATION............................................................. 6
Generation X, Y and Z ........................................................................................ 6
Generation X....................................................................................................... 6
Generation Y, Echo Boomers or Millenniums...................................................... 7
Generation Z....................................................................................................... 7
Aging/Disabled members of society .................................................................... 7
COMPETITOR IDENTIFICATION AND STRENGTH ANALYSIS........................... 8
SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE SECTOR.................................................................... 9
STRENGTHS...................................................................................................... 9
WEAKNESSES................................................................................................... 9
OPPORTUNITIES............................................................................................. 10
THREATS......................................................................................................... 10
OUTLOOK FOR THE SECTOR........................................................................... 10
Part Two ................................................................................................................. 12
Identify possible alternative value proposition ...................................................... 12
Analysis of Alternative competitive positions ........................................................ 13
recommended compatitive positions .................................................................... 14
suggested action plan .......................................................................................... 15
Conclusion........................................................................................................... 16
References: ............................................................................................................ 17

Part One
In this section, the author focuses on the background data, sector history and
situation analysis of the public library sector. The author will do his best to let the
audience to be well aware of the challenges the public library sector is facing,
therefore, appropriate changes have to be undertaking.
BACKGROUND OF AUSTRALIA PUBLIC LIBRARY
Public libraries in Australia were established by the nineteenth century Australian
colonial (state) governments as part of a wider set of liberal institutions advancing
human capital and social progress. Public library services are delivered by a variety
of administrative arrangements. These ware varied both between and within each
State and Territory, ranging from services wholly delivered by the State/Territory
through to services wholly delivered by Local Government (Waller & Mcshane 2008).
In a broad aspect, the public library is for everybody. It is a resource for each
individual and group in the society. It is a multi- purpose service, meeting different
needs in different ways.
We believe the public library should be a resource to be used by people, one that is
built on three pillars of equal importance:
• It is a resource for Information and Learning for the community
• It is a resource for Culture and Imagination
• It is a knowledge resource for Children, Young people and Elders.
The author believes that
 There is a public need for open and democratic access to the world of
information, whether in written, spoken or electronic formats.
 There is a need for a community-based service to support literacy and
reading, particularly amongst young people.
 The library service should equally meet the needs of all users, whether they
are researching particular subjects, casually browsing through the available
resources or simply using the library as a quiet place to read or study.

Our familiarity with libraries is partly due to their availability. In Australia, they are to
be found in every major suburb. Public libraries are a part of the community.
We believe the role of libraries should continue to evolve. The public library service
should act as knowledge and educational resource, run programs of outreach and
participates in partnerships with other social groups.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL/SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS
In the new global economy, where knowledge is the key resource, the quality of the
nation’s human resources is critical to ensure its workforce competitiveness. The key
to prosperity in the knowledge economy is for people of workforce to make intelligent
use of information. Learning must span all over their working lives.
Figure 1: library as one among the many information sources
(Source: First Monday, Volume 13, December 2008)
Humans being have never experienced such high degree of relying on information
as we have now. Almost every element of our daily activities is relying on the
information we have obtained. However, most people have experienced a certain
degree of difficulties in accessing the vast amount of available information (online,
offline), not only due to cost but also due to a lack of awareness of the possibilities
offered by the information society and due to a lack of information-handling skill.
Public libraries, locally organized and locally accessible, are very well placed to
provide the support that people will need in a knowledge Society. With its tradition
and ethos of universal access to its collections, the thrust of public libraries input to

this new society will ensure the knowledge will be fairly distributed to public and to
ensure we do not have people who can be classed as information rich and others
who can be classed as information poor because of their social status.
Public libraries need to be ready, however, to adapt themselves to the opportunities
and requirements of this new society. Public libraries are concerned with the uses of
information, with access and with democratic participation and countering social
exclusion.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE SECTOR
Although there are those who argue whether a sustainable and bright future exists
for public libraries in the face of technological changes. For most of us library is a
meeting place, place to gain, reflect and share knowledge from early years of our
lives. We also believe public libraries may also very well become essential
collaborative spots for civic engagement and adaptive community learning.
GEOGRAPHIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2003-04 report, at the end of
June 2004 there were 532 local government library organizations operating from
1,716 library locations throughout Australia.
There are few different operating models of Australia public libraries:
Centralized: The acquisition, cataloguing and processing of all library stock were
generally the responsibility of the state library or a single government department,
while individual library locations were responsible for service delivery. (South
Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory operated
under this model);
Coordinated: Each library location was responsible for the total provision of library
services, receiving support from state and local governments in the form of
subsidies, grants and materials. (New South Wales and Victoria operated under this
model);
Centralized/Coordinated: A combination of the above two models was utilized.
(Queensland and the Northern Territory operated under this model).
The study also suggested that SA for example had the largest number of library
visits and loans per person combined with the fact that SA has the largest internet
station exposure. That could be potentially due to the fact that people access largely
information online and they use their local library as the hub for online access.
Already, libraries are evolving into decentralized civic service centers, staffed with
capable knowledge workers who help users to deal with various information related
challenges. The ability of libraries to survive and thrive in the future will depend on
the ability of professional librarians to adapt, innovate, and lead their noble
institutions beyond traditional models into a new world of civic service delivery.

ECONOMIC (INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL) FACTOR
Economic impact on the public sector in general is quite significant given that it
largely depends on government policies and budgets. We could probably note that
during the economic downturn the use of public libraries could increase due to the
various reasons such as free internet access, increase in number of people
undertaking training to up-skill or enter a new job market.
At the same time with continuous growth and development of digital forms of media,
online services and online collaboration public libraries are facing enormous
challenges in those battle grounds.
The development of digital economy drove the marginal cost for many forms of
information to zero, which were the foundations of the argument for ongoing funding
for public libraries. On the other hand, growing cost for other digital data services
such as primary online databases is so high that partnerships with private players
are considered the only viable option to provide on-demand database access.
REGULATION/LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT
There is very little impact of the public libraries from legislative and regulation
perspective even though public sector generally is very heavily regulated.
The only critical part would be from a public funding perspective and new policies
associated with budget distribution within public education sector. the author
suggests that these factors are rather economic than pure legislation driven due to
the fact that economic environment both locally and globally shapes government
funding policies and budget distribution.
TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT
A number of studies have been conducted to establish the impact of the technology
and associated change on public libraries sector. An Australian study undertaken for
the Libraries Working Group (Mercer, 1995) found that 53% of non-library users and
90% of users would automatically use the library as the first point of reference if they
wanted to find something out. On the contrary some other studies suggest that
people would rather use internet then consult their local library. We can see the
noticeable trend of increasing using popular internet sources rather than relying on
traditional library resources.
There is an increased pressure to reinvent themselves (public libraries) online with
use of social media to reach younger generation. Some public libraries actively use
blogs and web-based information seminars and podcasts to appeal to the target
market and web audience. At the same time while new forms of technologies open
up new ways of engagement between libraries and users they reshape traditional
library service offerings and question resource-intensive activities such as
cataloguing and referencing.

SOCIAL/CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
We have found that the social environment is largely connected with technological
development and e-demands both of government and members of the public. We
can see the shift in ways government to interact with community members and
general public. The clear shift is in favor of so called “e-government” which consists
of a range of online based interactive services that replace agency branches and
physical involvement to provide a particular service. At present public libraries serve
as the main social institution that ensures access and provides assistance with using
e-government services. The main challenge remains in the “digital divide” space
between those who use internet and those who don’t know how. Given aging
population and a number of barriers such as poverty, education, luck of internet
access at home, disability or location the educating role of public libraries have
significantly increased. Jaeger(2012) in his research have found that if public
libraries had no free access to the interned as well as educational facilities, e-
government services would not be available to most members of general public. That
allows us to come to a conclusion that it is critical to public libraries to have free
internet facilities and qualified stuff to assist the growth and development of online
based government services.
MARKET ANALYSIS & SEGMENTATION
Form public libraries user perspective in a global scale, we could identify a number
of market segments:
Generation X, Y and Z
William J. Schroer provides a primer on the identification and description of the
population cohorts in this planet agreed upon by demographers and market
researchers.
Generation X
Born: 1966-1976; Coming of Age: 1988-1994; Age in 2004: 28 to 38; Current
Population: 41 million
Sometimes referred to as the “lost” generation, this was the first generation of
“latchkey” kids, exposed to lots of daycare and divorce. Known as the generation
with the lowest voting participation rate of any generation, Gen Xers were quoted by
Newsweek as “the generation that dropped out without ever turning on the news or
tuning in to the social issues around them.”
Gen Xers are arguably the best educated generation with 29% obtaining a
bachelor’s degree or higher (6% higher than the previous cohort). And, with that
education and a growing maturity they are starting to form families with a higher level
of caution and pragmatism than their parents demonstrated. Concerns run high over
avoiding broken homes, kids growing up without a parent around and financial
planning.

Generation Y, Echo Boomers or Millenniums
Born: 1977-1994; Coming of Age: 1998-2006; Age in 2004: 10 to 22; Current
Population: 71 million
The largest cohort since the Baby Boomers, their high numbers reflect their births as
that of their parent generation. the last of the Boomer Is and most of the Boomer II s.
Gen Y kids are known as incredibly sophisticated, technology wise, immune to most
traditional marketing and sales pitches...as they not only grew up with it all, they’ve
seen it all and been exposed to it all since early childhood.
Gen Y members are much more racially and ethnically diverse and they are much
more segmented as an audience aided by the rapid expansion in Cable TV
channels, satellite radio, the Internet, e-zines, etc.
Gen Y are less brand loyal and the speed of the Internet has led the cohort to be
similarly flexible and changing in its fashion, style consciousness and where and how
it is communicated with.
Generation Z
Born: 1995-2012; Coming of Age: 2013-2020; Age in 2004: 0-9; Current Population:
23 million and growing rapidly
While we don’t know much about Gen Z yet...we know a lot about the environment
they are growing up in. This highly diverse environment will make the grade schools
of the next generation the most diverse ever. Higher levels of technology will make
significant inroads in academics allowing for customized instruction, data mining of
student histories to enable pinpoint diagnostics and remediation or accelerated
achievement opportunities.
Gen Z kids grow up with a highly sophisticated media and computer environment
and more Internet savvy and expert than their Gen Y forerunners
Aging/Disabled members of society
Such segment would require significant investment in resources to accommodate
their needs. Public libraries would have to focus on educating and training staff
members to provide both online training and user support to elderly and disabled
members of society.
From customer focus perspective, public libraries should consider strategies in
attracting the entire “family” unit and welcome both teenagers and kids despite the
social perceptions of them being “difficult and have attitude problems” (B. Hull, 1999,
2003). Educating from early age on the benefits of books and the role of libraries in
general will assist not just in securing the next generation of visitors and users but to
promote right image of public library as social, cultural, technological and both
personal and professional development hub that is affordable and supportive.

COMPETITOR IDENTIFICATION AND STRENGTH ANALYSIS
Figure 2. Competitor identification
(Source: Larry N. W., 2009, ’Competition for Library Service)
There is no doubt competitors of public library are far more superior and hundred time
better (if not thousands) from information storing and retrieving perspective. There are
more and more information resources born with digital format. The traditional library
has lost its ground in terms of store and retrieve information.
However, there are five strengths which public library service have:
1. It acts as a resource for information and learning, as a resource for culture and
the imagination
2. Public libraries as a resource for information and learning for disadvantaged
community.
3. The public library bridges information gaps by providing accurate and up-to-date
information for everyday living and problem solving and by providing a
continually updated collection of reference works, in print and electronic form. It
assists the development of its local community by providing information for
business, and for community development, linking up, where relevant, with
national and international information providers.
4. The public library can focused on providing information of local government’s
activities and initiatives as well as updated information of local community.
5. The library supports adult learners and education generally. In particular it
supports action for adult literacy, supports adult independent learning, and
supports persons undertaking distance education in practical ways by providing
information, course materials and study space. It also assists people to develop
the skills they need in a fast changing world, enhancing reading skills, ICT
literacy, and general self-directed learning.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE SECTOR
Figure 3. Public library SWOT analysis
STRENGTHS
Location and condition of the buildings which enable them to be hubs of the
community
Ability to provide an inclusive services such as book club, wine club, public
discussion forums popular and well attended event program (i.e. cooking classes,
etc. kids book excursions) and distance education support
Support of local council in particular projects and initiatives
Able to provide face to face customer service
Strong community engagement and strong partnerships with internal services and
external organizations leverage the buildings
WEAKNESSES
Unable to generate sufficient income to support itself
Book and magazine collection obsoleted very quickly in digital age and high cost of
keeping them
Lack of well training staff to meet customer demands

OPPORTUNITIES
Should able to subscribe high quality and expensive online data bases to leverage
the new technologies to attract new customers and expand the reach in the broader
community
Promote public library as public gathering space and provide venue service to co-
locate council services as part of council’s extended customer services strategy, as
well as hosting book club, public discussion forums popular and well attended event
program (i.e. cooking classes, etc. kids book excursions) and distance education
support
It may be feasible to be an early adopter of new technologies and introduce these
into the community with courses like “learn to tweet “or the equivalent. Being an
early adopter of the capability to print purchased eBooks is another example. Early
adopter of the next technology or bandwagon may lead to an extension of services
such as new technology “latest smart phone or e-reader promotion and the like”.
There is the opportunity to select and training staff based on their entertainment
value – where “cheery” staff add value to the overall experience of using a library,
something akin to the Virgin or Southwest airlines experience.
The opportunities for marketing campaigns are rewarding, customer expectations of
libraries are very basic and as libraries add new services these exceed customer
expectation and would receive a positive response.
THREATS
Requirements to make budget savings in an increasingly difficult economic climate
Maintaining the relevance of libraries to the local community
Libraries support eServices will potentially cannibalize our own policy for Bodies
through the door. Dependence on eServices will open opportunities for new entrants
to easily surpass and undercut the libraries eServices with substitute products.
Withdraw or reduction of public funding and the move to a coasted model will
undermine the free and community services. Potentially purely web based
competitors can undercut the cost of eServices. Already existing rivals such as
bookstores, other libraries, eServices, Internet café’s.
Library ownership is with the local council who are cash poor. It is a proposition for
the local council to sell the library buildings and offer the library as an eService. We
believe public libraries offering eService are simply not enough, there must be
significant added value beyond provision of eServices.
OUTLOOK FOR THE SECTOR
The Australian public library has a belonging to a few industries, but mainly a mix of
education and public services industries. The outlook of each of these industries on
their own is not was has been analyzed here, rather the firms or Australia’s public

libraries themselves. Australian public libraries have been changing over many years
and this does not look to slow in the future.
Utilizing an external analysis tool, the PEST analysis, we can take a view on the
outlook of Australian public libraries.
Figure 4. Public Library PEST Analysis
Political, legal and economic trends have highlighted the at risk implication of financial
pressure and uncertainty. With government spending being cut on some public services,
taking a view on public library spend is important. Overlaying the Australian economic
cycle and understanding the government’s role in funding will be a key determinant to the
end strategy taken and in turn the outlook of the firms.
Social and demographic changes will play a stronger influence on the outlook of
Australian public libraries. Identified through a PEST analysis we see a real need for
public libraries to be able to adapt to customer needs. This adaption process must have
foresight and be agile to accommodate very fast changing needs of its customers. The
trends identified can allude to both positive and negative implications for library usage
itself, however the main out-take from this analysis is the need for adaptability to change.
With the demographic make-up of the country changing, social media becomes part of
everyday life, and lifestyle changes meaning an older, learning society the interaction
with todays and tomorrows public libraries will change.
Technology changes are highlighting an increase in indirect competition to Australian
libraries. Search engines are becoming stronger and provide a replacement to some of
the libraries capabilities. Research, journals and other academic records are now readily
available in electronic form and reduce again the need to enter the library in its current
form. Being known as a place to interact and work with others is also having its
implications with the technological advances in online communication tools such as

interactive workspaces and video conferences. All of these are examples of indirect
competition of public library capabilities.
Part Two
In this section the author evaluated the alternative value proposition of public library
in information era and provide strategic recommendation based on previous (part
one) analysis.
IDENTIFY POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE VALUE PROPOSITION
Figure 5. Public Library demand analysis
Despite huge shift of accessing information online, there are still large demand of
public library service from community perspective. Above diagram illustrated the
value positions which public library has which digital format information society are
lack of.
Many public library start transforming themselves from traditional bookshelf business
model to value add on public service business model.
In UK, Some of the public libraries leveraged their rich in local culture and physical
close to local community to provide unique service. One of very good example is

Cork City Library. It organized adult book club for people with love of reading and a
member of library staff acted as a facilitator.
It was a very successful initiative. It has attracted more and more local people from
different ages and social background back to library and built strong relationship with
local community.
ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE COMPETITIVE POSITIONS
Public library’s
core capabilities
competitive
advantage
Enable to deliver
specific service in
the marketplace
Free community
space
Physical space,
facilities, located
in the center of
the local area
Face to face meeting,
reading group Social
gathering and author
promotion, etc.
Trained and
motivated staffs
Local time zone
and direct
services
Expert advice and
other tailored
services
Public Learning
space for
disadvantaged
people
Multiple culture
awareness and
tolerant
Close the gap of
social injustices
Early child
education
Learning and
playing space
School children book
excursion
Able to collaborate
with local Schools
and universities
Ability to obtain
funding from
local/federal
government
Subscribe high
quality online data
base for student and
researchers
Table 1. Strategic Position Analysis
Public library is the ideal place for people from different social status to interact each
other without consider their difference from culture and economic status perspective.
Public library is the perfect space to host group activities. Public library should

partner with best seller book authors, cooking show producers, public health
professionals to have multiple focus groups and encourage people from different
ethnic background and social status come together and interact each other. Such
group activities will improve local community’s social inclusion, ethnic cohesion and
even personal emotional health of individuals.
With digital information explosion every few years, it often cause a big gap for
general public to catch up with the new technologies. Well trained staffs of public
library and local council’s IT professionals are valuable resource in order to help
general public to close this gap.
With sufficient funding, local libraries able to update their IT equipment which will
enable them to provide hands on learning environment for general public.
Local public library is the excellent institution to provide rich information resource
(books. Magazines, audio/video Medias, online access, etc.) for nearby primary and
secondary schools. The author has found that local public libraries become very
popular as self-learning and social gathering places for teenagers in recent years.
In 2010, UK Culture and Leisure survey found 73% of people ether agreed or
strongly agreed that libraries were “an important part of the community” 58% thought
they gave young people places to go and thing to do, 21% said that their visit on that
day of library had helped them to develop or to learn a new skill (Library Strategy,
2012-15).
RECOMMENDED COMPATITIVE POSITIONS
Figure 6. Public Library Fit/Attractiveness Analysis
Public libraries are holding its unique position in the society. It is a guarantor of
information hub accessed by general public without discrimination of culture, ethnic,
finance status. It has rich legacy contents in the past. In the information explosion

era, it should gradually evolving itself to become gateway and hub of new digital
format of information.
The public libraries should position itself as a center of collaboration between local
government, local community, local business and local education institutes form
knowledge sharing and information exchange perspective.
The public libraries should become a community based service to support literacy
and reading/writing for young people (there is increasing young people only read and
write on face book or twitter).
The public libraries should be the source specific services for disadvantaged people
from information collaboration and exchange perspective.
The public libraries should act as information and educational resource and run
regular programs (book readings, cooking class, etc.) to attract people to collaborate
each other
The public libraries should be the popular space for young people to share
information learn from each other. This will encourage them to leverage public
libraries as a hub for their lifelong learning in the information age.
SUGGESTED ACTION PLAN
Figure 7. Public Library Value proposition matrix
The public Libraries should leverage its core competitive advantages to transform
and reposition themselves in this new information collaboration orientated society.
 Digitized 85% paper based legacy books, recording documents, old papers
and magazines for easy keyword search.

 Create national library database for sharing digital formatted library contents
across the country.
 Partner with e-book and other digital publishers and subscribe best seller e-
books, digitized new papers, magazines.
 Partner with educational institutes, research groups and commercial
companies to provide high quality online database subscription for
researchers and high school/university students and teachers.
 Provide meeting facilities for local government policies’ forum discussion,
debates, and other community meetings
 Hosting book clubs, cooking club, wine club and other specific interesting
subject group activities
 Encourage local primary and secondary schools to leverage library facilities,
(i.e. books, multiple media information resource, free wifi, meeting room with
projector and sound system)
 Provide meeting space for local government town hall meetings
 Partner with radio stations and TV station to broadcast group activities
 Leverage internet and IT resource of libraries to stream group activities to
YouTube and broadcast them globally.
 Partner with university to have virtual since expeditions.
CONCLUSION
The public library need to make sure it services the public well. The stakeholders of
public library should have sound understanding of how the ecology and economy of
society has been changing. In this report the author has brief described some of
those changes and challenges they brought to the traditional business model of
public library.
The author has noticed there are many studies on how general public is interacting
with digitized information access technologies, there is still lacking of research on
their impacts on value proposition of public library for the communities.
This report has articulated the unique and distinctive value proposition of public
library for the general public and recommended its stakeholders re-evaluate its
institution goals and to develop service orientated strategy in order to meet the
societies’ rapidly changing environment.

References:
http://www.alia.org.au
http://www.pla.org.au
http://www.fola.org.au/index.html
http://www.nsla.org.au/news/latest-australian-public-libraries-statistics
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2011/10/ats_20111019_1810.mp3
Vivienne W., Ian M., ’Analyzing the challenges for large public libraries in the
Twenty-first century: A case study of the State Library in Australia’, First Monday,
Volume 13, Number 12 -1 December 2008. PP.5-7.
The “Big Shift” Advisors and Program Team, ‘The Big Shift: Public Library Strategies
for Access to Information in Any Format’
The British Library Strategy 2011-1015
Larry N. W., 2009, ’Competition for Library Service,’pp.19.
Biddy C., ‘The challenges facing public libraries in the Big Society: focusing on the
role of volunteers, and the issues that surround their use’.
Jaeger, P.T., Greene, N.N., Bertot, J.C., Perkins, N. & Wahl, E.E., 'The co-evolution
of e-government and public libraries: Technologies, access, education, and
partnerships', Library & Information Science Research, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 271-281.
Buchanan, S. & Cousins, F., 'Evaluating the strategic plans of public libraries: An
inspection-based approach', Library & Information Science Research, vol. 34, no. 2,
pp. 125-130.
Bhatt, R., 'The impact of public library use on reading, television, and academic
outcomes', Journal of Urban Economics, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 148-166.
Ball, M.A. 2009, 'Aggregating broadband demand: Surveying the beneﬁts and
challenges for public libraries', Government Information Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 4, pp.
551-558.
Bertot, J.C., McClure, C.R. & Jaeger, P.T. 2008, 'Public libraries and the Internet
2007: Issues, implications, and expectations', Library & Information Science
Research, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 175-184.
Hull, B. 2003, 'ICT and social exclusion: the role of libraries', Telematics and
Informatics, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 131-142.
William J. Schroer, ‘Generations X,Y, Z and the Others’,
http://www.socialmarketing.org/newsletter/features/generation3.htm

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