Traditionally, the Balanced Scorecard is implemented in organizations to align activities with strategic direction, to translate its strategy into actionable plans. It establishes an assessment system, encompassing the internal processes and user outcomes in order improve service and efficiency. Though the BSC is a management system, it can be adapted to create, or re-create, a library service to ensure that it is contributing toward strategic goals (rather than wasting valuable resources), and that they are implemented in a holistic fashion:

1) The financial and personnel resource implications of the service are identified and determined to be available.

2) The internal processes to administer the service have been detailed.

3) Staff training needs to facilitate the service have been identified.

4) The user groups have been identified and their needs will be met.

For librarians, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Balanced Scorecard is its inclusion of establishing measurable initiatives that will create the desired outcomes. Over the past decade, librarians, in response to higher education’s focus on measuring educational outcomes, have also become quite engaged in measuring outcomes. Using the Balanced Scorecard to create a new, or re-create an existing, library service guarantees that user outcomes are considered.