I would like to set the record straight regarding the research done for the Rockport Public Library. In his most recent letter, Jan Rosenbaum incorrectly asserts that the research "was not professionally designed". I designed and implemented the focus groups and the survey using my 30-plus years of experience in market research which has been my career. My job before retirement was at the manager level in research at IBM corporate. I was hired by Molly Larson at the library based on that experience and paid from the Davis grant at well below my usual consulting rate. 

I conducted two focus groups in late 2010 with 30 individuals recruited by the library. These groups represented a range of ages, residents and nonresidents and covered a range of topics concerning their desires for the library. Then in early spring 2011 a survey was conducted. Surveys were available on line, in the library and in the town hall. A notice was sent to the papers urging Rockport residents to respond and the library staff urged people to do so as well. The total number of completed surveys was 223. These results were analyzed and presented to the library committee. In a quote from the library newsletter of Spring 2011 "

Professionally conducted survey results have been successfully completed... the results are available at the library and online." That is still the case.

The questions asking about preferences for the future of the library were much more carefully worded than Rosenbaum alleges. People were offered several choices and a reading of the survey results would make that clear. 

I am writing, not to take sides in this issue, but to point out to all including Rosenbaum, chairman of the steering committee, that this research is professionally valid and deserves reasonable consideration in the process, not being rejected out of hand for imagined deficits. 

Emily Lusher lives in Rockport.