Research Institute for Public Libraries
July 23-26, 2023

Overview

RIPL began in 2015 as an immersive, bootcamp-style event for public library staff to learn practical methods for gathering, analyzing, and using data for planning, management, and communicating impact. Now, after 4 national events and more than 25 regional events, it’s time for the next wave.

At the 2023 national event, we are introducing a new format, tailored to meeting the needs of those just getting started with data and evaluation as well as data geeks, and for people new to RIPL as well as RIPL alumni. We will offer some longer breakout sessions (up to 2.5 hours) to enable participants to explore topics in more depth. What’s not changing? Hands-on, experiential learning; an immersive, camp-like experience; and the opportunity to connect with instructors and library staff from around the US and beyond who are passionate about creating data-powered libraries.

Participants

RIPL participants work in public libraries and are …

interested in using data for savvy and strategic planning.
looking for both inspiration and instruction in a hands-on, participatory environment.
seeking to learn about outcomes and how to measure library impact.
committed to leading their organizations in making data-based decisions.
eager to develop a peer network to support research and evaluation efforts.

115 spots are available in this immersive learning event.

Please view our Code of Conduct here.

Location

The Pyle Center

702 Langdon Street

Madison, WI 53706

Dane County Airport is 5 miles from the event center; Milwaukee Mitchell Airport is 85 miles from the event center and there is bus service multiple times daily between Milwaukee Mitchell Airport and a location that is 0.3 miles from the event center (UW Madison Campus stop on N. Lake St.).

You can view information about parking at the Pyle center here.

Cost

Registration has sold out and the waitlist is full. To receive notifications about future events, please subscribe for updates at the bottom of this page.

The registration fee is $550, payable by credit card, and includes dinner on 7/23 and breakfast and lunch, 7/24-7/26.

If you need to cancel your registration, you may either transfer your registration to someone else in your organization, or your payment will be refunded (minus a $20 processing fee) IF a replacement is found to take your spot. We will maintain a waiting list if the event fills.

RIPL’s fiscal agent is Califa Group.

Lodging

Hotels close to the Pyle Center include:

DoubleTree by Hilton Madison Downtown (0.4 miles from venue)

The Edgewater Hotel (0.5 miles from venue)

Hampton Inn & Suites Madison/Downtown (0.5 miles from venue)

Hilton Garden Inn Madison Downtown (0.6 miles from venue)

Hyatt Place Madison Downtown (0.7 miles from venue)

Best Western Premier Park Hotel (0.8 miles from venue)

Sessions*

Day 1

23 Jul 2023

Day 2

24 Jul 2023

Day 3

25 Jul 2023

Day 4

26 Jul 2023

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Registration

5:30 pm-6:30 pm

Dinner

6:30 pm-7:30 pm

Carmen Patlan

Opening Keynote – Community Engagement: Who’s Counting?

Libraries today are stepping up to the challenges of discerning critical needs in their communities. Meeting these challenges requires leveraging the power of the community it serves by building trusted...

Carmen Patlan

8:00 am - 8:30 am

Welcome & Orientation

8:30 am - 10:00 am

General Session: Begin With a Strong Foundation: Developing a Data Plan

When embarking on data-informed work, it can be easy to jump straight to data collection, such as administering a survey to determine the effectiveness of a program or pulling a...

Katina Jones

Linda Hofschire

Zeth Lietzau

Sharon Morris

10:00 am - 10:15 am

Break

10:15 am-11:45 am

Joseph LaLonde

Breakout: Telling Your Library’s Story with Maps

Maps can tell the story of how your library supports your community in a very intuitive way. For example, you can see how your library connects to transportation infrastructure, gain...

Joseph LaLonde

10:15 am - 11:45 am

Lisa Fraser

Breakout: What Makes Your Community Special: Conducting a Well-Rounded Needs Assessment

In our increasingly diverse world, understanding your community’s needs, interests, assets and goals is essential to provide excellent library services. This session will introduce techniques that work together to create...

Lisa Fraser

10:15 am - 11:45 am

Evan Nielsen

Breakout: Think Outside the [Spreadsheet] Box: Collect and use data in Airtable, a spreadsheet/database hybrid tool

Are you currently collecting, managing, and visualizing operational data in MS Excel or Google Sheets? Have you experienced the downsides or limitations of this model? Are you ready to try...

Evan Nielsen

10:15 am - 11:45 am

Kirsten Decker

Diana Plunkett

Breakout: There Is No “There”: Notes From the Journey To A Data-Informed Culture

We’ve all heard terms like data-driven, data-informed, data culture and have been told that a magic software tool, methodology or way of doing things will get us “there.” What if...

Kirsten Decker

Diana Plunkett

10:15 am - 11:45 am

Sara Goek

Linda Hofschire

Sharon Morris

Breakout: RIPL 101: Count Your Impact – Getting Started with Outcome-Based Evaluation

This session will also be offered on Tuesday at 10:45 AM-12:15 PM. Your library offers a lot of great programs, resources, and services, but how can you determine what effects...

Sara Goek

Linda Hofschire

Sharon Morris

11:45 am - 12:45 pm

Lunch

12:45 pm - 3:15 pm

Karen Drill

Breakout: Don’t Assume—Ask! Conducting Interviews and Focus Groups with Your Community

Interviews and focus groups (also known as group interviews or listening sessions) are a great way for libraries to gain a deeper understanding of their patrons’ needs. In this session,...

Karen Drill

12:45 pm - 3:15 pm

Amanda Johnson

Breakout: Elements of Data Visualization and Design

This session will also be offered on Tuesday at 1:15-3:45 PM. This session will introduce basic data visualization and design elements based on best practices from current visualization research. Participants...

Amanda Johnson

12:45 pm - 3:15 pm

Breakout: RIPL 102: Unlocking the Potential of Library and Community Data to Generate Value

This session will also be offered on Tuesday at 1:15-3:45 PM. How can you take the data you collect and put it into action? In this session, participants will engage...

Katina Jones

Julia Marden

Kieran Hixon

Sharon Morris

12:45 pm - 3:15 pm

Jane Martel

Breakout: From Strategy to Action: Moving the Needle on Metrics

Your library has its strategic plan and now it’s time to make it come alive — but how? Based on a survey of nearly 13,000 people in 500 organizations, employees...

Jane Martel

12:45 pm - 3:15 pm

Alison Clarke

Katie Fox

Rebecca Teasdale

Breakout: Observations: Data Hiding in Plain Sight

Libraries use systematic observation to gather data about patrons’ behavior, words, and interactions—such as children’s level of engagement during a story time, the computer skills adults demonstrate during a technology...

Alison Clarke

Katie Fox

Rebecca Teasdale

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm

Alumni Lounge

Break/Office Hours

3:45 pm - 5:15 pm

Christine Keung

Community Data for Impact

There is an increasing need for open data in governments and systems to analyze equity at large scale. Local governments often lack the necessary technical tools to identify and tackle...

Christine Keung

8:00 am - 8:30 am

Alumni Lounge

Application Activity

8:30 am - 10:30 am

Alumni Lounge

LaShaune P. Johnson, PhD

General Session: Lighting the Way on your Equity Journey: Co-Creating Evaluation Projects with Community Partners

Public libraries serve increasingly diverse stakeholders, each with unique interests, needs and strengths. Using the tools from community engagement and culturally responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE), you can help create...

LaShaune P. Johnson, PhD

10:30 am-10:45 am

Break

10:45 am-12:15 pm

313

Dan Hensley

Marisa Pelczar

Exploring Public Libraries Survey Data for Peer Comparisons

Using library data to benchmark your library to its peers is easier than you think! This 90-minute session will provide hands-on guidance on how to access federal data tools and...

Dan Hensley

Marisa Pelczar

10:45 am-12:15 pm

309

Lynn Hoffman

Breakout: Privacy vs. Personalization

Customer privacy and confidentiality are core public library values. Our default is to not make use of our customer behavior data, in spite of the fact that it would allow...

Lynn Hoffman

10:45 am -12:15 pm

332

Sara Goek

Linda Hofschire

Sharon Morris

Breakout: RIPL 101: Count Your Impact – Getting Started with Outcome-Based Evaluation

This session will also be offered on Monday at 10:15-11:45 AM. Your library offers a lot of great programs, resources, and services, but how can you determine what effects these...

Sara Goek

Linda Hofschire

Sharon Morris

10:45 am - 12:15 pm

325

Sharon Comstock

Breakout: Curious for the Full(er) Story? Inquiry, Impact, Measurement and Method

In this session we learn how cultivating conscious curiosity is core to understanding what matters in our communities. By applying Community of Inquiry (CoI) theory and practices, we can culture...

Sharon Comstock

10:45 am - 12:15 pm

213

Kimberly Silk

Breakout: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Approaches to Demonstrating the Social Impact of Libraries

Public libraries are dedicated to improving the quality of life at the community level by delivering programs and services that support literacy, numeracy, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. These same...

Kimberly Silk

12:15 pm - 1:15 pm

Lunch

1:15 pm - 3:45 pm

313

Amanda Johnson

Breakout: Elements of Data Visualization and Design

This session will also be offered on Monday at 12:45-3:15 PM. This session will introduce basic data visualization and design elements based on best practices from current visualization research. Participants...

Amanda Johnson

1:15 pm - 3:45 pm

309

Kawanna Bright

Breakout: Creative Survey Design: Crafting Survey Instruments to Meet Your Library’s Research and Evaluation Needs

Surveys in libraries are often seen as essential methods for collecting data about services, programming, and community needs. But while libraries recognize the benefits of utilizing surveys for their research...

Kawanna Bright

1:15 pm - 3:45 pm

213

Jessica Gagnon

Alison Clarke

Breakout: Data: Where do I even start? A hands-on session exploring how to collect, manage, analyze and visualize your data using freely available software

It’s annual public library survey submission time, and you’re already worried about how much precious time it will take to track down all the pieces of data in different places...

Jessica Gagnon

Alison Clarke

1:15 pm-3:45 pm

332

Rebecca Teasdale

Linda Hofschire

Breakout: Outcomes and Beyond: A 3-Step Approach to Evaluating Program Success

You put a lot of effort into developing public-facing programs for your community, but how do you know whether these programs are successful? In this session, you will learn a...

Rebecca Teasdale

Linda Hofschire

1:15 pm - 3:45 pm

325

Breakout: RIPL 102: Unlocking the Potential of Library and Community Data to Generate Value

This session will also be offered on Monday at 12:45-3:15 PM. How can you take the data you collect and put it into action? In this session, participants will engage...

Katina Jones

Julia Marden

Kieran Hixon

Sharon Morris

3:45 pm - 4:15 pm

Alumni Lounge

Break/Office Hours

4:15 pm - 5:15 pm

Unconference

Unlike a traditional conference session, this session will be participant-led. Participants will choose to attend one of the following unconference breakout groups: Small and Rural Libraries Suburban Libraries Urban Libraries...

8:00 am - 8:30 am

Alumni Lounge

Application Activity

8:30 am - 10:00 am

Alumni Lounge

Kate McDowell

General Session: Library Storytelling with Data: Argument, Evidence, and Emotion

Learn how to bring data stories to life for library advocacy. Participants will learn about ongoing research identifying classic library stories told to persuade decision-makers as part of the Data...

Kate McDowell

10:00 am - 10:15 am

Break

10:15 am - 10:45 am

Breakout: Finding Partners for Your Data Adventure

Learn about the benefits of partnering with one of our sponsors as you embark on your data adventures. Your group will need information from all of our sponsors to use...

10:45 am - 11:00 am

Break

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Alumni Lounge

Making the Case

During this culminating activity, you will have the opportunity to apply everything you’ve learned during the event to a final project.

12:00 pm - 12:45 pm

Lunch and Culminating Activity Gallery Walk

12:45 pm - 1:30 pm

Alumni Lounge

Miguel Figueroa

Closing Keynote: Getting Comfortable with Curiosity

RIPL 2023 has inspired us to explore new questions, leverage new strategies, and ultimately confront new information about our communities. Coming together to discuss what we’ve learned, let’s take time...