The Colorado Talking Book Library (CTBL), part of the Colorado State Library, provides free audio, braille, and large print books to the blind and print disabled across Colorado. To assess CTBL’s services, every two years the Patron Satisfaction Survey is administered by Library Research Service. The 2025 survey was administered from February 3 through March 31, 2025. 312 patrons completed the survey which examined patron satisfaction with the value, communication, and engagement of CTBL and their services. Patron demographics were collected on a limited basis and the responses were anonymous unless participants provided their information for follow-up contact.
The target number of responses was 356 (a 25% response rate), which was based on a random sample of 1415 people. Though we received fewer surveys than we hoped for (312) we still achieved a 22% response rate, which is statistically acceptable considering this is about 7% of the entire CTBL population. Upon analysis, we found that based on age groups, responses were representative of the overall CTBL patron population.
The rating for the overall quality of service from this year was historically high. The vast majority (85%) of respondents said the overall quality of service is “excellent.” The only other time in the past 20 years that CTBL has been rated this highly was in 2007 (excellent ratings have never dropped below 78% over this time period.) Additionally, 13% of respondents rated the overall quality as “good,” which equates to 98% of patrons rating the service as good or better. Not a single respondent said the overall service was poor. Clearly, patrons highly value the library especially to continue reading for enjoyment, engage their minds, and prevent feelings of loneliness. Gratitude was one of the most common themes among survey responses.
This was the first year that we asked about patrons’ perceptions of the CTBL Newsletter. Over half of respondents read the newsletter (61%), and the majority of readers said the quality was either good or excellent. The newsletter section most frequently rated most valuable was “book recommendations.”
Colorado Talking Book Library remains an incredibly valuable resource for Coloradans. The stories told in both numbers and words from patrons paint a picture of just how integral CTBL’s services are for their community. Throughout this report you will find quotes from patrons and more in-depth analysis of survey statistics. CTBL looks forward to continuing to serve the community and wants to thank the participants of this study.