During December and January 662 library patrons from 34 member libraries responded to online and printed surveys as part of NMRLS strategic planning process. Most responses were made via paper surveys distributed by member libraries. We emailed customized library reports of responses to all libraries that had ten or more responses.

The vast majority of respondents were very satisfied with library services. Very few respondents were not satisfied. Respondents tended to be regular users of their libraries.

Patrons made many comments about their satisfaction with library services. There were frequent compliments about library staff expertise and demeanor and children's room services, e.g., "Staff is awesome!" and "The children's programs are great. Love the stories & activities."

We also asked for suggestions for new library services. Patrons asked for more hours (especially on weekends), a library café, wireless Internet service, more computers, home delivery, access to a quiet area, more training in use of computers and electronic resources, more access to audio books and videos/DVDs, and children's and adult programming.

We were very interested in how library patrons see the importance of libraries changing in the future. Responses indicate that patrons believe that the importance of libraries is not on the decline. We also asked why. Both those who felt importance would grow and those who thought libraries would become less important pointed to the growth of information resources.

Patrons who felt importance would grow noted, "Though web-based searches can yield a lot of information, it's difficult to discern what is accurate. Younger individuals who use the Internet exclusively need to be made more aware that a physical library is also a very valuable tool. Reference librarians with online and offline research experience can be these guides." "Google will not solve all problems, eventually it will create more!" "I think libraries will always be a place for parents to bring their children." and "People in a democracy need free access to information."

Among those who felt that the importance will decline, we found interesting comments such as, "Technology is taking over and new generations are not thrilled by going to the library... " and "Although it is sad, with the world at your fingertips (worldwide web), it puts the need for libraries lower on the totem pole."

To ascertain how many respondents used the library remotely, we asked about their satisfaction with home use of the online catalog. We found that a large percentage of patrons do not use the catalog from home. Several respondents commented that they were not aware of this option.

Most comments about the library's online catalog were very positive, e.g., "I love the library's online catalog. I can request a book from my home PC and the librarian will let me know when my book is ready." and "Very effective!" Some patrons had suggestions about navigation and features.

We did not specify in-library or home use when we asked about satisfaction with database searching results. We found that while, users of databases were satisfied, many patrons do not use them.

Comments from patrons about databases included the following:

• A very good use of the library's funds.
• I like the online databases especially InfoTrac.
• I like the fact that I can get the complete articles online.
• I use the Ebsco databases and find a great array of academic journals for my research.
• There is an excellent selection of databases, although more choices could be available off campus.
• It can be difficult to find information because there are so many different databases and it's hard to tell which ones will be helpful.
  
• I do not know how to use online databases. It would be nice to have a class at library on databases online.

We asked about patron satisfaction for delivery turnaround time and found a high level of satisfaction among users of this service. We did not try to differentiate between loans within the same network and others.

We asked patrons for comments about interlibrary loan. A few respondents tactfully suggested that they would have liked faster turnaround time, but most comments were positive, such as "I love the fact that I can borrow any item from a number of libraries and pick-up and return at my local library." "We received an interesting comment from a patron who wasn't always in a hurry, 'Sometimes I don't want the library to bother to get it from somewhere else - I am willing to wait for our copy and there is no way to indicate that.'"