Outcome Measurement for Public Libraries
The Public Library Association (PLA) is committed to building public library staff capacity to collect and share impacts with key stakeholders and initiatives. Measuring outcomes helps libraries answer the question, “What good did we do?” and helps demonstrate their effectiveness beyond patron attendance and anecdotal success stories. We invite you to explore our suite of resources and tools developed with public library leaders over the past decade to inform strategic planning and boost advocacy.
Quick Links
Learn how outcome measurement can help libraries assess their impact on the people they serve.
Worksheet to help align outcome measurement with community needs and library goals.
Preview the standardized questions utilized in Project Outcome surveys.
Survey and Report Templates
Survey Templates: Google Forms or Microsoft Forms
Outcome Measurement Resources
More Information and Training Opportunities
If you have questions about any of PLA's outcome measurement resources or templates, or would like to host a training webinar or in-person training workshop for your library or library group, please contact info@projectoutcome.org.
PLA Members Can Get Involved
Join PLA's Data and Measurement interest group to connect with members interested in increasing their knowledge and skills related to library data, assessment, evaluation, and impact. Please note that participation in PLA interest groups is limited to PLA personal members and login through ALA Connect is required.
Additionally, serving on a PLA committee is a rewarding experience that can help you expand your professional development and networking base. The Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment Advisory Group is charged with data-related activities that help strengthen and advance the public library field in providing services and programs to its patrons as well as communicating the value of libraries to internal and external audiences.
Performance Measurement Initiative
Project Outcome for Public Libraries built upon a 2013 initiative led by then-PLA president Carolyn Anthony (former director, Skokie Public Library), who established a Performance Measurement Task Force to develop standardized measures of effectiveness for library services and promote training and implementation tools for using the data collected. The Task Force was comprised of a diverse group of public and state library leaders, consultants, data researchers, and analysts. After collecting outcome data from 2013 PLDS survey responses and conducting pilot tests in 27 libraries in late 2014, the Task Force identified the seven essential library service areas for Project Outcome to assess what could be easily and directly linked to improving or changing a patron's knowledge, confidence, application, and awareness.
PLA launched the Project Outcome Immediate Surveys and online toolkit in 2015 at the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco ("Project Outcome Launch - Seven Surveys To Measure Impact," Public Libraries Online, published May 28, 2015). Upon release, the Task Force quickly started working on the next set of performance measures for libraries to capture community impact. Throughout 2015–2016, the Task Force developed and tested the Follow-Up Surveys that were released to the public in 2016 at the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando.
The work of the Task Force caught the eye of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Their generous funding support enabled PLA to accelerate and expand the reach of Project Outcome. PLA was able to sustain the project's work beyond the terms of the grant and added Project Outcome to the long list of other successful PLA services, such as DigitalLearn, Every Child Ready to Read and Turning the Page.
