Assessment can be time consuming, intimidating, stress inducing, and just overwhelming. Where do you even begin? What do you do with the data? In the recent webinar, Supercharge Your Storytime Assessment: Using Data to Tell Your Story, presenters and participants acknowledged the challenges around assessment while offering ideas on how data gathering can be useful. It can help us prove our value, use resources more efficiently, deliver quality programs, communicate with funders, and show growth. Moving from head counts at storytimes to outcome measurement empowers us to measure the good we do and our value to patrons. 

We continue our Social Library series with examples of community engagement from libraries we follow on Facebook. This edition highlights how libraries connect with readers, writers, and museum goers, and how they tap into community interest around bees and mental health. If you'd like to see your library featured in an upcoming edition, please let us know via social@webjunction.org or find us on Facebook.

Boise Public Library in Idaho has invited the community to a Silent Book Club. "There's no assigned reading. Silent Book Club is about taking time out of your busy schedule to simply relax and read.... Read more

Fifteen public libraries that serve small U.S. communities have been selected to participate in the "Small Libraries Create Smart Spaces" project led by OCLC in partnership with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries.

This will be the second cohort to participate, thanks to an award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to expand the 2016 National Leadership Grant project. The project team received 120 applications from 38 states. The selected libraries represent 15 states and serve communities ranging in size from 900 to 15,500 people.

Elizabeth Koenig and the team at Everett Public Library are passionate about bringing fun, creative programming to their community. Many of their best ideas come from tapping into their own team's special talents and hobbies. We asked Elizabeth and her team to tell us how they do it—and how sharing their personal skills with their community has made this team feel even more excited and connected to their work at the library. We hope it sparks creative ideas for you and your team!

Everett Public Library (EPL) has a long history of its team tapping into their talents. Beloved... Read more