An academic library that focuses on delivering a personalized service is examined within the context of the boutique library model. It is suggested that a critical success factor in adopting a personalized, boutique-style service is acquiring knowledge and insight of our users. This, together with appropriate evaluation, will assist with providing evidence of service impact. A critical incident survey for third year dissertation students in a subject library is used to demonstrate the depth of knowledge essential for services to provide for their user populations. The extent to which obtaining user knowledge for making informed decisions about services underpins any academic library strategy is dependent on service managers. The conclusion is that local knowledge, along with evaluation of that information and tailored service implementation, is essential for academic library success, whatever the size of institution.