Public Library Services for Strong Communities: Results from PLA’s 2025 Survey
eLearning
Webinar
Learn about the results from the 2025 Public Library Services for Strong Communities Survey, including key information on the public library programs, services, partnerships, and facilities geared towards meeting needs and fostering resilient communities. The results address questions about the types of age-specific programs libraries are offering, whether libraries' services and partnerships are delivered formally or informally, and the recent updates to library facilities including new builds and mobile service outlets. The powerful, actionable evidence from the Services Survey supports planning and advocacy at the local, state, and national level. Presenters will share how your library can use the survey report and PLA’s data tools to understand and improve your library’s performance, demonstrate value, and increase impact in your community.
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Identify current trends in public library programs, services, and facilities;
- Consider application of the survey results at the local level and through peer comparisons; and
- Preview relevant Benchmark visualizations and make a plan to participate in future PLA surveys.
Who Should Attend
This webinar is intended for public library directors and administrators, as well as all library staff making data-driven decisions about programs and services.
Panelists
Kim DeNero-Ackroyd (she/her) has been the public services director of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights (OH) Public Library for fourteen years. In this role, she supervises eight public service managers directly, as well as leads all public service activities. Outcome measurement and data analysis are critical tools in her daily work. She has delivered educational programs on both a local and state level. Kim is currently serving as co-chair of PLA’s Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment Advisory Group, and as a member of PLA’s Continuing Education Advisory Group, ALA’s Membership Committee, and the Board of Directors of the Ohio Library Council.
Sara Goek (she/her) is project manager, data and research with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Public Library Association (PLA), divisions of the American Library Association (ALA). She supports data-related initiatives, including the annual surveys, Benchmark, and Project Outcome. Sara holds a PhD in history/digital arts and humanities from University College Cork.
Katina Jones (she/her) is the program manager for evaluation and assessment at the Public Library Association (PLA). She supports PLA's data tools, annual topical surveys, and other data and evaluation work. Katina started her library career working as the state data coordinator at the Missouri State Library, followed by nearly nine years as the data analyst at one of that state's largest suburban public libraries.
Accommodations
This live webinar will be captioned in English (United States). Zoom desktop client or mobile app is required to access captions.
Attendees using screen readers are advised to turn off speech prior to joining the Zoom event because PLA webinars make extensive use of chat functionality. Attendees who find chat distracting may wish to disable it in the Zoom event, as PLA moderators will verbally highlight important topics raised in chat and chat transcripts will be provided post-webinar.
If you have a physical or communication need that may affect your participation in this webinar, please contact us at plawebinars@ala.org or 800-545-2433 ext. 5PLA (5752) at least two weeks prior to the webinar. Without prior notification of need, we may not be able to provide appropriate accommodations for the live event.
Archived Recording
If you're unable to attend this live webinar, an archived recording will be available to all registrants typically within 1–3 business of the live event. Access to closed captions will be provided in the webinar recording.
Attendees are prohibited from using any artificial intelligence, machine learning, large language model, automated decision-making tool, or any other software or tools to record this event and from using this event to train, develop, or improve any artificial intelligence system, machine learning model, or similar automated technology.
Tech Requirements
This webinar will be presented using the Zoom platform. Please review Zoom technical requirements and support information, and test your connection.
Once you've joined the webinar, there are two ways to connect your audio: via computer or via telephone. No microphone is required. PLA works with its webinar platform provider to assure the highest quality audio is being delivered to attendees. However, variables over which PLA has no control—such as the speed of your Internet connection or traffic on your local network—can affect the end quality of the webinar audio delivered by your computer. Each webinar’s audio is also available by telephone via a toll number, so we recommend you have access to a long-distance enabled phone as a backup in case you experience audio issues with VoIP. If you do encounter any problems during the webinar, you will receive a link to its archived recording within a week of the live event and can review anything you missed.
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