The research aims to describe the strategy of the library in improving the reading
culture and to find out what factors affect the performance of library services in increasing public
interest in reading during a pandemic. The research method used is the descriptive method using
surveys and interviews as well as qualitative analysis. Data was obtained through questionnaires,
interviews and observations. The research was conducted in the library of state universities in
Malang City. The results showed that the performance of library services in improving reading mints
was not optimal; itwas indicated that therewere still user complaints, the attitude of service officers
was not fully responsive and information on service programs was not widely known by users.
Libraries as public service institutions should be obliged to provide the best service for the community.
Therefore, fundamental changes are needed, especially in terms of improving the quality
or performance of library services that are more oriented towards community service satisfaction
and are responsive to the dynamics of the service environment, meaning trying to provide the best
service and evaluate it based on the point of view of library service users (Yi & Cong 2018). So far,
the attitudes and behavior of library service providers are more oriented to the needs of institutions
and superiors who tend to be served, thus neglecting services to users (Kiran & Diljit 2017).
In this regard, the quality or performance of professional library services needs to be realized,
service officers as human resources in the library who are the spearheads in providing services
to users are required to provide quality services and are more oriented towards user satisfaction
and are more responsive to challenges and opportunities (Murray & Hackathorn 2016). They must
not be fixated on routine activities, have the competence to provide fair services and empower the
community so that it can create a society that has a high level of literacy (Kotler 2002.).
According to a theoretical perspective, there has been a shift in the public service paradigm from
a traditional public administration model to a new public management model, and finally to a new
public service model (Piatak & Holt 2020). In the new public service model, public interests are
formulated as a result of dialogue from various sources that exist in society and public services
must be responsive to various interests and must be non-discriminatory (Subarsono 2005).
According to Sulistyo-Basuki, services in library science can be interpreted as an activity related
to providing information by librarians to users (Basuki 2020). Public services in libraries must
also be supported by the competencies that librarians must-have. Sudarsono, B. (2020) identifies
the competencies that must be owned, namely: (1) knowing the basis of organizing; (2) having
and knowing suitable and effective reference interview techniques; (3) knowing printed and digital
information resources; (4) having the ability to provide suggestions and directions to users; (5) being
able to design and implement information retrieval strategies; and (6) able to guide users in the
interpretation and evaluation of information.
According to Abbot in Sulistyo Basuki (Sulistyo-Basuki 2004) in simple terms library performance
indicators are management tools designed to help library managers determine howgood their
service performance is. A librarian/service officer is the spearhead in providing quality services
to the user community (Basuki 2020). The assessment of the performance of librarians/service
officers is one of the most important elements in assessing library performance. This is in line
with what was stated by GT. Milkovich and JW Boudreau (Aye & Nusari 2019), who revealed that
performance appraisal is a process carried out to assess employee performance while employee
performance is defined as a level where employees meet/achieve specified work requirements.
Levine (2014) suggests three concepts that can be used as a reference for measuring the
performance of public organizations, namely responsiveness (responsiveness), responsibility
(responsibility), and accountability (accountability). Apart from these three performance indicators,
it is also common to use other indicators that are more specific according to Mulyadi and
Setiawan (Tangkilisan 2005), namely: (1) building customer satisfaction; (2) having employeework
productivity; and (3) generating adequate financial returns. Parasuraman, et al. (2001) identified
ten main dimensions in assessing the performance/quality of public services, namely reliability,
responsiveness, competence, access, politeness, communication, credibility, security, ability to
understand customers and physical evidence.
The development of existing collections has not been able to meet the needs of the user community,
especially for the type of book collection. University libraries in Malang City are still late in providing
collections, the sophistication of collections in libraries is not the same as the sophistication
of collections circulating outside the library. This is related to the collection development system
which is still fixated on the rules of the procurement system so that collection development always
experiences delays. On the other hand, the time-consuming processing of library materials also
plays a role in providing up-to-date collections.
Selengkapnya bisa diakses pada link berikut:
https://scholar.google.co.id/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&hl=en&user=dtyIsj4AAAAJ