Since May 2002, researchers from LISU have worked with staff from Lancashire County Library and Information Service in a ground-breaking 3-year project to develop new ways of evaluating the performance of library service. The project was funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and Lancashire County Library and Information Service.

Evidence based management is now firmly embedded in the working 'culture' of the service, and although the project reached its conclusion in May 2005, the initiative continues to evolve.