The Library has successfully achieved the Customer Service Excellence Standard (CSE), a challenging government standard that is increasingly seen as a measure of a high-quality service.

It measures quality of delivery, timeliness, information, professionalism and staff attitude in the provision of public services.

Emphasis is also placed on how organizations know what their customers need, how they understand the customer's experience and robust measurement of service satisfaction.

The CSE assessor commented: “The Library has a very clear and evident culture of putting the student at the heart of what it seeks to achieve.

“Feedback from students and the Student Union representatives met during the assessment demonstrates that students very much see the Library and the services it provides as being at the heart of their studies, both in terms of accessing appropriate resources as well as providing the right environment for studying, learning and writing assignments.”

Areas of strength highlighted by the assessment include:

• A comprehensive understanding of the needs of all of the Library’s customer groups
• A real culture of customer focus that stems from the Librarian and managers down to, and upwards from, front-line staff
• Good levels of customer satisfaction across all areas of service delivery
• Staff empowered to develop services both within their own areas of expertise and as members of wider teams and working groups across all areas of service delivery.

Kitty Inglis, the University Librarian, said: "We are delighted to have achieved the CSE standard in recognition of the quality of the services we deliver.

“We have learnt a great deal about our processes and practices while developing the portfolio of evidence for our submission and will build on this learning as we continue to develop and improve our services.

“The dedication and professionalism of all Library staff has been central to our achieving the CSE standard.”