05-31-2019, 08:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-31-2019, 09:01 AM by dmill4infx.)
My name is Doug Miller, the Strategic Planner and Customer Research Manager for the Fairfax County Public Library. We are in the early stages of launching a new Mobile Library and Outreach Service. FCPL hasn't had a bookmobile since the early 1980s and did virtually no evaluation of the service which was not at all unusual at the time. So basically we are starting from scratch. I'd like to know what other systems offering mobile service see as the most useful data to gather in order to evaluate the service. Are we talking the library standard stuff like circulation & visits or are there more meaningful stats such as the number of senior residences or Title I schools visited; outreach to at-risk populations and how to define & capture that; do others use their mobile service as a way to partner with other local agencies such as their Health Dept. or Human Services; what is the best way to tell the story of our success with this new mobile library service?
HH
hdugginswarfMy name is Hannah Duggins-Warf. I am the Strategic Data Analyst at Virginia Beach Public Library. I'd like to evaluate our outreach to public schools - looking at where we go and with what frequency and compare that to the school's report card (which shows percentage of free and reduced lunch, demographic breakdown, school's standardized test scores, etc) to see what changes we might need to make to use our resources in the places that would most benefit. I'd like the end product to be an interactive dashboard that could be used by our programming coordinators and our branch managers to help them figure out which outreaches would best meet the needs of which schools.
Hi Hannah,
This sounds like an interesting project. Here in Fairfax County we struggle with this kind of program evaluation constantly. We have Program Plans that managers complete prior to each fiscal year so they have to actually think about their levels and types of programming for the coming year. We provide demographic data on their particular service area so they can familiarize themselves with who is in the community and thus program accordingly. While many of our individual branches work actively with schools, we find that schools are not exactly eager to work together. Naturally there is internal politics on both the library and school side. There are staffing issues, scheduling issues, etc., etc. I would be very interested to learn how you move this project forward.
HH
hdugginswarfMy name is Hannah Duggins-Warf. I am the Strategic Data Analyst at Virginia Beach Public Library. I'd like to evaluate our outreach to public schools - looking at where we go and with what frequency and compare that to the school's report card (which shows percentage of free and reduced lunch, demographic breakdown, school's standardized test scores, etc) to see what changes we might need to make to use our resources in the places that would most benefit. I'd like the end product to be an interactive dashboard that could be used by our programming coordinators and our branch managers to help them figure out which outreaches would best meet the needs of which schools.
Hi Hannah,
This sounds like an interesting project. Here in Fairfax County we struggle with this kind of program evaluation constantly. We have Program Plans that managers complete prior to each fiscal year so they have to actually think about their levels and types of programming for the coming year. We provide demographic data on their particular service area so they can familiarize themselves with who is in the community and thus program accordingly. While many of our individual branches work actively with schools, we find that schools are not exactly eager to work together. Naturally there is internal politics on both the library and school side. There are staffing issues, scheduling issues, etc., etc. I would be very interested to learn how you move this project forward.