Don't Forget the Databases

We are big believers here in using a variety of program types to fill out our dance card. By combining active, DIY and stealth/passive programs, we create time in our schedule to

1. serve all ages 
2. incorporate more outreach to schools and daycares
3. do stronger collection development
4. blue sky and write successful grants to support new initiatives
5. provide time for CE time for staff (PLNs, webinars, in-person attendance and networking)

So just what are these program types?

Active programs can be simply characterized as programs a staff or volunteer present or lead: storytimes, afterschool workshops, parties based on book characters or popular subjects, STEAM

DIY programs can be thought of as times or spaces devoted to kids in the library that allow them independently to manipulate materials. Think of scavenger hunts, art and craft materials set out for kids to make things, Story Action Pods, imaginative play stations for any age.

Stealth programs are those that, once prepared by staff, are totally powered by the kids and families. They provide the reading or return visits to the library. SLP is a great example we all do. 1000 Books Before Kindergarten is another great example.

We keep track of how participation/attendance is in all the programs. How many kids used the story action pod (based on number of sheets of paper used); how many bags of legos were give out at check-out for Lego Tower Build; how many children attended storytime; how many return visits were made for 1000 Books Before Kindergarten this month? These stats help us stay informed of the usefulness of each effort.

We keep a fairly simple database of our programs and numbers to help us track participation. At some libraries, an excel spread sheet works; others use a paper copy. By keeping statistics on our programs – and referring to and studying them for patterns and trends - we make informed decisions on what programs should be continued, when to end programs and the types of programs that fit best within our budget, staff time and community needs. This analysis and evaluation becomes second nature and gives us the support we need to expand, delete or add programs based on hard facts rather than supposition.

These statistics not only inform us, our director and our board, but we also report out these numbers to the state library for the state annual report. Sadly, for a long time, although we did this mix of programs, only our active program statistics and SLP participation were reported to the state for the annual report. Winter reading program? Too bad.  Lego Build effort - no way. Cookie Club? You dreamer! 1000 Books Before Kindergarten? Nope.

That was a problem. In our state youth librarians started working hard to change that dynamic. Our state library folks could see the efforts and time that went into DIY, reading programs beyond summer and passive programs that brought children and families into the library. They became champions of change in the reporting of youth program statistics. To get a peek at the results of that work in Wisconsin, check out this PDF of the new reporting system and definitions for programs.

Now ALL.THE.THINGS.COUNT. It makes it easier as a manager to justify our hard work. And it makes me glad we have our database of program stats for all types of programs that shows what happens when we reach outside the box of traditional programming and bring it to our community!

THAT'S What I'm Talkin' About!!

Apologies for this post showing up again. My blog is, rightly or wrongly, where I archive some of the good stuff we do. A week ago I accidently deleted the following post while dinking around with my ipad. I was able to back key it and have it stay for long enough to write out the post before it disappeared. Jeez. I am so NOT a digital native!

Here it is again from my badly scribbled transcription. I discovered that though I don't keyboard well, without constant practice, I write REALLY badly. Here goes anyway:

Throughout this week, our business manager put together our circ and program stats for our state's annual report. Today, she reported out the final piece.

Holy smokies, my friends, be sure to sit down because I am about to blow you away.

• We offered 39% fewer traditional children's programs in 2011 than in 2010.
• We had 32% fewer attendees at these programs
• Our circulation of children's materials increased 10% (usual increase is 2-3% annually)
• Our circulation of children's materials increased 15%!!!

What!?!?!?!?!  How'd that happen?!?!?!?!?

We didn't institute a big weeding project; we struggled with a rather messy transition to a new ILS that often had patrons- and staff - frustrated and we cut the number of programs.

I think it is due to three initiaitives we introduced this year. Each of these encouraged check-outs and return visits to the library and are part of our "stealth" or passive programs:

• 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and here
• Cookie Club
• Encourage kids to check out books as an option in SLP reporting activities.

Thinking outside the box and looking for ways to stretch our staff and resources - but still encourage our families to return and use our services frequently - made the difference.  I love it when statistics back up the leaps of faith that we made in changing services.

To find samples of our materials, check out our Winding Rivers Library System Youth website and scroll down towards the bottom of the page!

Image: 'What????'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/33501059@N02/4059486159

Pudding Proofs

Okie dokey - the final circulation stats are in for SLP.  Yesterday, the last day of August, with school starting today, was finally the quietest day since our summer reading program began June 6. Quiet enough to actually work on the wrap-up report!
So wassup? 
 
Even though we offered half the number of events during SLP, our circulation boomed with increases higher than we had ever experienced before in that time period.
Our new SLP was a big part of this success.  During July, our weekly bookmark format kept kids coming back again and again as they read and worked towards earning a book. That resulted in lots of book check-outs - we almost doubled our circ increases over the previous July.  It leads us to believe that designing the program to encourage July return visits is a keeper!

August was a whole other story. In previous years, usage and circ slowed down considerably.  This year, book prizes earned were available in the first two weeks of August. That brought lots of kids and families in during a traditionally very quiet time. A few well placed programs with big crowds kept the momentum going.

We are already thinking about how to keep the circulation momentum up next summer.  And we are happy to let our board and community know that kids in La Crosse read and check-out..alot!

Image: 'Food Photography - Bread & Butter Pudding' http://www.flickr.com/photos/74149825@N00/1725407679

Capturing Numbers

I've had a couple of people ask me on- and off-line how we record our stats for summer and get staff buy-in with the process.

I like to track just enough data points to give us needed info but no more than is necessary:

• name
• grade going into (or age, if preschool)
• name of school or, if homeschooled
• participation level (we all know the number of kids registered for the program doesn't reflect the actual number of kids who return and participat

These numbers point me in the direction of how effective our SLP is, where we need to devote more planning or changes in direction, what is effective in our approach. Combined with anecdotal information, it gives us the info we need to meet the needs of our kids.

We have played with a number of methods to get this data. When I worked at a one-location (no branches) library, we set up a very simple excel sheet that we would record info. We could easily handle 1000 entries that way and perhaps more. It allowed us to do single and multiple data point sorting. Staff buy-in was easy because we had been doing alot of this tracking by hand (index cards that volunteers would sort at the end of the summer according to the various data we wanted). The downside of this method is that the spreadsheet could only be open on one computer at a time.

When I moved to my present job, staff used hatchmarks to keep track of kids registered for the program and that was it. We didn't know our participation rate, what schools or ages the kids were, how many incentives we gave out - nada beyond the number involved. Planning was challenging because it was based on...nothing. Our board asked questions when I reported out to them in August that I couldn't answer.

So we designed a simple Microsoft Access database for our three locations so we could enter info and track readers with the database. The same data was collected and we could easily do sorting in the database to extract the numbers we needed. We did have some access issues that made this database too glitchy to use though so we threw ourselves on the mercy of our library's IT guru who wrote a small, helpful database within our "intranet" system to handle the same duties. This is our favorite, of course, because it fits our needs to "T" - but we know not everyone has an IT guy in their library pocket.

Staff wasn't too sure about all this as we did the design for the databases. Once they saw what we could do with the data (anticipate staffing needs; better target buying or incentives and book prizes; calibrate our printing needs more precisely), there was a much better staff buy-in for using this new technology for keeping track of summer business. We have also been able to present some powerful data to our board and school colleagues. And, of course, because we base planning on what really happens, we tailor our design to our community's response - and we are seeing real success in increasing the number of kids who participate!

Image: 'Day 214'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/38451115@N04/4423765348

Proof!!!

SUMMER READING PROGRAMS HELP KIDS MAINTAIN THEIR READING SKILLS OVER THE SUMMER!!!

Oh, sorry about that.  I just had to shout.  What we in the children's library work world have known since we started our careers has now been studied and reported out by the widely anticipated Dominican Study: Public Library Summer Reading Programs Close the Reading Gap. This three year study, administered by Dominican University GSLIS, was an evidence-based investigation into the impact of summer reading programs on student acheivment funded by IMLS; conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Summer Learning and partnered with the Colorado State Library and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

And the results are in. You can read the whole study at the link above. But let me skip to some of the execuive summary results:

• Students who participated in the public library summer reading program scored higher on reading achievement tests at the beginning of the next school year than those students who did not participate and they gained in other ways as well.
• While students who reported that they did not participate in the public library summer reading program also improved reading scores, they did not reach the reading level of the students who did participate.
• Students who participated in the public library summer reading program had better reading skills at the end of third grade and scored higher on the standards test than the students who did not participate. 
• Students who participated in the public library summer reading program included more females, more Caucasians, and were at a higher socioeconomic level than the group of students who did not participate.
• Families of students who participated in the public library summer reading program had more books in their homes than those families of students not participating.
• Students enrolled in the public library summer reading program reported that they like to read books, like to go to the library, and picked their own books to read.
• Parents of children enrolled in the public library summer reading program reported that their children spent more time reading over the summer and read more books, were well prepared for school in the fall, and read more confidently.
• Parents of children enrolled in the public library summer reading program reported that they would enroll their children in a summer reading program at the library again, made more visits to the public library with their children, and read more books to/with their children over the summer.
• Teachers observed that students who participated in the public library summer reading program returned to school ready to learn, improved their reading achievement and skills, increased their enjoyment of reading, were more motivated to read, were more confident in participating in classroom reading activities, read beyond what was required in their free time, and perceived reading to be important.
• School librarians observed that students who participated in the public library summer reading program returned to school ready to learn, improved their reading achievement and skills, increased their enjoyment of reading, were more motivated to read, were more confident in their reading abilities, read beyond what was required in their free time, and perceived reading to be important.
• Public librarians observed/perceived that students who participated in the public library summer reading program returned to school ready to learn, improved their reading achievement and skills, increased their enjoyment of reading, were more motivated to read, were more confident in their reading abilities, read beyond what was required in their free time, perceived reading to be important, were enthusiastic about reading and self-selecting books, and increased their fluency and comprehension.

The study's final recommendations:

1. Recognizing that public libraries play a significant role in helping to close the achievement gap in school performance.

2. Promoting the powerful role that public libraries play in the education community in helping children maintain and gain reading skills.

3. Engaging families in public library programs to promote early childhood literacy.

4. Investing more money in summer reading programs—especially in public libraries that serve children and families in economically depressed areas.

5. Marketing to parents of school-age children so they understand the importance of their children participating in summer reading programs and other out-of-school library activities.

Kudos to my peeps Susan Roman and Carole Fiore and to Deb Carran who authored this great report. It is just what we out on the front-lines need!

Image: 'Start Your Summer Reading Early'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/47823583@N03/4664379890

Data Data Data-Base!

Am I excited or what?  Our tech savvy Hedgehog Librarian, who knows her way around databases, has created our first ever sign-up database for SLP!!!  Although we have worked with spreadsheets for various registered events in the past we have three library locations and wanted to share the data.  Our spreadsheets weren't handy and some of the staff that is a little tech shy were hesitant to try it.   But now, with her wizardry, we are in beta testing and about to experiment with delightful fake monikers at all three libraries. There is time to iron out glitches and be ready for the kids when they hop out of school in a few weeks.

It makes a huge difference to be able to do our sign-ups in a way that will provide some valuable information.  How many times are kids visiting; where do they come from (zip code); email addresses of parents of school aged kids to expand our mailing list (we have very well attended preschool events because parents or preschoolers are in our email loop; we need to duplicate that reach to tell school-agers about cool programs throughout the year); what grades levels most respond and participate.  And we will know how many books and prizes we give out which will help us manage our budget better in the future.

Keep your fingers crossed that our testing works and we can get 'er up and running!

Image: 'WebTrends 2007 / otro mapa de web+2.0'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/90646759@N00/1149873101

Libraries - Woot!

For the oldsters out there who remember the campaign that said there are more libraries in the U.S. than McDonald's, here is an updated piece that presents some great facts for people.  Check this How Libraries Stack Up 2010 page developed by OCLC found by my colleague Linda J. at Scribd. I love tiny tidbits of data!  Libraries rock!

Image: 'Stacked - the paperback swap haul'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/11868335@N00/4483505584