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.