Gathering and Using Community Data: Making the Best Decisions for Your Library

CHICAGO — ALA TechSource announces a new workshop, Gathering and Using Community Data: Making the Best Decisions for Your Library with Marie Pyko and Thad Hartman. This 90-minute workshop will take place on November 6, 2013.

Decisions about library programs and services are typically made by library staff, using anecdotal experience as a guide to understanding community wants and needs. This workshop will teach you how you can gather data about your community to assess patrons’ needs and desires and then use it to help guide library services. You’ll learn to combine staff expertise with concrete community data so your library can make decisions with a broader base of knowledge.

The instructors will use their experience at the highly-regarded Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library as an illustration of how other libraries can do this without the need to hire an external company. They’ll highlight sources of community data that are likely to already exist and ways that such data can be gathered by library staff.

Topics Include:

• How to find the free sources of data in your community;
• How to gather data without spending money;
• Putting your data into action: big challenges and small challenges.

About the Instructor(s)

Marie Pyko, Public Services director, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, oversees the long range plans for service planning and deployment for adults, youth and outreach services to older adults. She has a Masters of Library Science from Emporia State University, Emporia, Kan., and a Bachelor’s of Arts from Wayne State University, Detroit, and was a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2012.

Thad Hartman, Community and Strategic Services manager, Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, oversees strategic planning and process improvement initiatives, and library community services including Bookmobiles, Library @ Work, and the partnership between TSCPL and the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Department. He has a Masters of Library Science from Emporia State University, Emporia, Kan., and a Bachelor’s of Arts from Washburn University, Topeka, Kan.

Registration for this event, which takes place at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, November 6, can be purchased at the ALA Store at both group and individual rates.

ALA TechSource Workshops are designed to give you and your staff the opportunity to participate in a hands‐on learning experience that will help you make the best technology decisions for your library.

ALA TechSource is a publishing imprint of the American Library Association. ALA TechSource publishes Library Technology Reports and the ALA TechSource Blog.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.