Assessment, Evaluation & Planning
With patron and community needs always evolving and expanding, how do we know we're providing the right services? When funders ask questions we can't answer, how do we gather evidence of the library's importance? And how do we evaluate our services so that we plan for changing needs? Explore various resources for needs assessment, planning, and evaluation to inform decisions about facilities and services to serve community needs.
Self-paced courses and webinar recordings on this topic are freely available in the WebJunction Course Catalog.
Photo: Kennisland, CC BY-SA 2.0
Most Recently Added
Civil Legal Issues of Natural Disasters: Libraries Can Help
Publish Date: Webinar / 22 September 2022
Presenters will introduce the civil legal issues that arise during natural disasters and share how to support related patron information needs.
Community-Led Planning for Equitable, Responsive Services
Publish Date: Webinar / 15 September 2022
Learn about community-led planning strategies and how to apply them to create highly relevant, inclusive services for, and with, your community.
New Playbook for Libraries in Public Health Emergencies
Publish Date: News / 13 September 2022
Public libraries have been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic on many levels. Navigating the sea of decision-making related to communicating during a crisis, managing staff needs, and maintaining our facilities have been major tasks. The newly ...
Weed 'Em and Reap: Getting Your Collection from Awful to Awesome
Publish Date: Webinar / 14 July 2022
This session discusses the life cycle of a collection, including weeding techniques, collection management policies, and how to motivate reluctant weeders.
Broadband Improvements: Free Planning Tools for Libraries
Publish Date: Webinar / 20 April 2022
Learn how to use the Toward Gigabit Libraries toolkit―a free, self-service guide created to help libraries understand and improve their IT capacities and broadband resources.
Resources for Planning Your New Model Library
Publish Date: News / 15 February 2022
This article provides an overview of the New Model Library research, supporting learner guide, examples from public libraries, and information about an upcoming webinar on the topic. We hope that these materials can help facilitate local conversa...
Skills for Community-Centered Libraries Curriculum Available
Publish Date: News / 23 September 2021
Like many libraries across the nation, the Free Library of Philadelphia is undergoing a paradigm shift. Increasingly, our focus is not only on extensive collections but on how we are engaging with our communities. To address this shift, the Free Libr...
Exploring the SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results) Model
Publish Date: Webinar / 5 August 2021
Explore the SOAR model as a strategy for developing asset-oriented initiatives as a step toward developing a more community-centered library.
On Implicit Bias and Communication
Publish Date: Webinar / 8 July 2021
Reflect on how life experiences, traditions, and beliefs impact communication and explore strategies for facilitating deeper discussions and stronger connections as steps toward developing a more community-centered library.
Eliminating Library Fines: Improving Community Access, Equity and Usage
Publish Date: Webinar / 15 June 2021
This webinar shares how going fine-free eliminates barriers and improves access to your library’s materials and services.
