The library wants your opinion.

The Cleveland Bradley County Public Library is conducting a survey to get patron input on library services and programs.

The survey was formulated by library board members Tara Brown, Susan Lackey, Library Director Andrew Hunt and Chairman Steve Robinson. The board members wanted the survey to be short and simple, yet open-ended enough for patrons’ ideas.

“We tried to phrase this so it sounded very personal to the patron who is responding to the survey,” Lackey said.

The library is doing so by using the words “you” and “your” throughout the survey, she added.

The survey will help the library as it continues to grow and adjust to its additional space, gained last year.

Robinson said the survey is part of “formulating a plan to move the library forward in its new home.”

The library will make the survey available to patrons in two ways. First, the survey will be made available to people in the library. Robinson said the library board wanted to have library staff personally ask patrons to fill out the survey. Second, the survey will also be available online. The online version of the survey is already available and can be accessed at www.clevelandlibrary.org. The library will also make sure the same person does not fill out the survey twice. The library plans to begin giving the survey to patrons next week.

Board members thought the first two weeks of August would be the best time to present the survey.

Robinson said the board wanted to present the survey before students went back to school so more children and young adults would be taking the survey.

The one-paged survey asks the patrons’ age range, frequency of visits and the services or programs they use. The survey also asks open-ended opinion questions. There is also space for patrons to give contact information if they would be interested in meeting with the library to discuss ideas. Robinson said the focus groups would allow the library to look deeper into specific areas.