Resource Center
The Association of Research Libraries awards the William M. Brish Library at Hagerstown Community College in Hagerstown, Maryland, the 2019 LibQUAL+ In-Kind Grant. Each year since 2006, the Association has offered grants for participation in the LibQUAL+ survey. Grants are awarded to institutions that can demonstrate their ability to improve overall services and contribute to the quality of service provided to students and faculty at their institution, as well as demonstrate their financial need. The In-Kind Grant program’s goal is to offer one grant for every 50 registered libraries. More information on the In-Kind Grant program is on the LibQUAL+ website.
Hagerstown Community College (HCC) was founded in 1946 as Maryland’s first community college. HCC offers more than 100 programs of study and has grown from 95 students in 1946 to over 12,000 students in 2018. The William M. Brish Library underwent an extensive renovation beginning in 2016 under the slogan “The Library of the Future,” which involved a substantial reduction of the physical collection, expansion of electronic collections, and remodeling of the library’s physical space. With a new coordinator, new facility, and new staffing model, the library plans to use findings from the LibQUAL+ survey to help set its strategic direction and establish priorities.
About LibQUAL+®
LibQUAL+ is a tool that libraries use to solicit, track, understand, and act upon users’ opinions of service quality. The protocol is a rigorously tested web survey that helps libraries assess and improve services, change organizational culture, and market the library. Since 2000, more than 1,350 libraries in 35 countries have participated in LibQUAL+, including college and university, community college, health sciences, and academic law libraries. This growing community of participants and its extensive data set of more than one million completed surveys are rich resources for improving library services. LibQUAL+ is on the web at libqual.org.
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in Canada and the US whose mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication. The Association fosters the open exchange of ideas and expertise, promotes equity and diversity, and pursues advocacy and public policy efforts that reflect the values of the library, scholarly, and higher education communities. ARL forges partnerships and catalyzes the collective efforts of research libraries to enable knowledge creation and to achieve enduring and barrier-free access to information. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
