During all of 1999 the Oxford County Library (OCL) and Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) collaborated in the implementation of the Rural Resources Partnerhsip (RRP) project. The purpose of the project was 1) to offer information on HRDC Income Security and Canada Pension Plan services through the OCL branches across Oxford County, 2) to offer extended hours of operations for the libraries, 3) to involve high-school co-op students working as interns in delivering the services. It is expected that the RRP will serve as a pilot project with applicability to the future delivery of a wider range of government services.

The School of Rural Extension Studies, University of Guelph, was invited to design and implement an evaluation of the RRP project in November 1998. The evaluation design focuses on assessing three dimensions: service delivery, professional development, and community acceptance of the new services. The evaluation design followed the following principles: a focus on producing information that enhances decision making; tracking change, and setting standards; attention to staff participation; visualization of findings to stimulate reflection and analysis; documenting human resource development; and building community.

This report includes a highlight of findings. Each age group uses the library services differently: the 10-20 year old group is mainly interested in accessing e-mail and the Internet, and also use the library to complete school projects. The main group seeking government information is the 30-50 year old group; this group is not a strong user of electronic information. The 20-30 year old group is the smallest user group of all library services. Women are more likely to visit the library than men are. At the end of their internships, student interns demonstrated gains in skills and knowledge over and above changes in attitudes. Staff value summer CAP interns more that high school co-op students and this is attributed -among other reasons- to the fact that CAP interns are older and more able to work independently. Both CAP and co-op students provided positive qualitative evaluations of their experience with OCL. Patrons are becomingincreasingly aware of the new services offered by OCL and most know about, and appreciate, the extended hours. The telephone survey revealed that a large percentage of those interviewed are library users. Staff is adjusting to their additional roles as providers of information and referral on government services. The Government Service Tracking form may help them in future to document the extent to which the new roles are adding value or interfering with their traditional roles as librarians.

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