Excellent Library!

Better financial performance, more efficient processes, customer satisfaction and customer retention – all these objectives are to be achieved by libraries. They have to demonstrate value for money and prove their worth. Quality management as a leadership approach deals with all these challenges. Therefore Quality Management becomes more and more important for libraries. The Quality Certificate “Excellent Library!”, is based on the Business Excellence Model of the “European Foundation for Quality Management” (EFQM) and its adaptation to the public sector: the “Common Assessment Framework” (CAF). The underlying thesis of the model is that excellent results of a library with respect to performance, customers, people and society are achieved through leadership driving policy and strategy that is delivered through people, partnerships, resources and processes. The project to develop a quality model for libraries started in spring 2008. It is conducted by the Research Centre for Library Management, Evaluation and Organisational Development (BEO) at Stuttgart Media University. 7 Public Libraries are taking part in the pilot project. Prof. Cornelia Vonhof, Stuttgart Media University, presents the process concept and the Quality Model.