Lively presentation about the benefits of assessing community needs when designing a new public library service. The presentation draws on the experience of the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) in supporting development of new public library services in over 25 developing and transition economy countries. The presentation suggests methodologies for assessing community needs and points to useful additional resources.

Prepared by EIFL-PLIP manager, Ramune Petuchovaite, to support a paper presented at the Second African Public Libraries Summit (Swaziland, 30 April – 1 May 2016).