Planning & Evaluation

Strategic Planning

All About Strategic Planning
Website: Free Management Library
https://managementhelp.org/strategicplanning/index.htm
Although not specifically for libraries, this site has a wealth of content to understand strategic planning from testing your strategic thinking skills to conducting a strategic planning process to implementing and evaluating your strategic plan.

Implementing for Results: Your Strategic Plan in Action, 2009
Book: ALA Editions
http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2489
Now that you have a strategic plan, Sandra Nelson presents sequential tasks, tips, and tools to determine which activities will effectively support your goals and objectives.  36 work forms are included to help make staffing, collection, facilities, and technology decisions.

Strategic Planning for Results, 2008
Book: ALA Editions
http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=1583
The PLA Results Series has long served to help public librarians envision, evaluate, and respond to community needs with distinctive programs and services. Building from this proven model, Strategic Planning for Results by Sandra Nelson is the fully revised version of Planning for Results, the foundational book in this groundbreaking series.

Statistics

Public Libraries in the United States Survey
Website: Institute of Museum and Library Services
https://www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/data-collection/public-libraries-united-states-survey
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) provides statistics you can use, allows you to search for libraries, compare libraries, and look at their survey data.

Statistics in Libraries: How to Use and Evaluate Statistical Information in Library Research
Slideshow: John McDonald
http://www.slideshare.net/john_mcdonald/statistics-for-librarians-how-to-use-and-evaluat
John McDonald’s presentation provides links to additional resources in addition to information on use and evaluation of statistics.

Working with Library Statistics
Article: National Network of Libraries of Medicine
https://nnlm.gov/mcr/advocacy/statistics.html
The article breaks down different categories (books, documents, reference questions, internet usage, etc.) into a definition of the category, source of data, considerations, and ease of collection.

Performance Measurement

Data-Driven Professional Development Pathways for Public Library Staff
Website: Public Library Association, Research Institute for Public Libraries
https://ripl.lrs.org/data-pathways/
A resource guide of pathways for public library staff, administrators, and managers to gain the skills necessary for working with library assessment data.

Library User Survey Templates & How-Tos
Website: Library Research Service
http://www.lrs.org/library-user-surveys-on-the-web/
LRS free survey templates for programs and events and ways to administer them.

Project Outcome: Measuring the True Impact of Public Libraries
Website: Public Library Association
http://www.projectoutcome.org
PLA’s Project Outcome performance measurement tool along with current offerings, surveys, the ability to compare data, and much more.

The Top 5 Performance Management Tools: Good News and Cautionary Tales
Article: LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140522054403-64875646-the-5-most-popular-tools-to-manage-performance-good-news-and-cautionary-tales
Bernard Marr not only discusses key performance indicators but also has links to articles on what these indicators are and how to maximize them.

What’s Your Library Worth?
Website: American Library Association
http://www.ilovelibraries.org/what-libraries-do/calculator
A worksheet that lets you calculate the value of library materials and services in monetary terms.