View Project

G2S Project Code: 2014-CT-73446
State: Connecticut
Fiscal Year: 2014
Grantee
Connecticut State Library

Project Director
Director Name: Dawn La Valle
Director Phone: 860-757-6507
Director Email: dawn.lavalle@ct.gov
General Information
Title: Consulting and DLD Administration
State Project Code:
Start Date: 10/01/2013
End Date: 09/30/2015
Abstract: The CT State Library's Division of Library Development (DLD) provides assistance to librarians in Connecticut in order to help them learn skills, resolve issues, and provide the best services to their patrons and communities. DLD offers continuing education opportunities, administers LSTA grants, provides circulating collections of popular and alternate format materials to supplement individual library collections, manages statewide electronic resources and the statewide library catalog, and oversees the delivery system and interlibrary loan system. Progress on these individual projects is reported elsewhere in this State Program Report. In addition to their regular duties, DLD staff are also subject specialists who act as consultants for Connecticut's librarians on the subjects of youth services, statistics, library trustees, Friends groups, digital projects, financial literacy, health literacy, legal literacy, and grant writing and management, among other subjects. The State Data Coordinator compiles an annual statistical report of public library data that is used by individual libraries to help assess their performance in relation to similar libraries and make a case for more funding from their towns.



State Goal: Literacies and learning
Budget Information
LSTA
MATCH-State
MATCH-Other
Total
$209,089.00
$45,695.00
$0.00
$254,784.00
Intent(s)
Improve library operations.
Library Infrastructure & Capacity
Activities
Activity Details
Title: Consulting
Narrative: All nine DLD professional staff act as consultants within their subject specialties and on behalf of the State Library in general. The Division's director serves as a liaison to multiple state and nonprofit agencies, helps to coordinate statewide projects and programs with those agencies, and represents the Division on several advisory boards.

DLD staff have been involved in a multi-year initiative to visit all of Connecticut's 165 main public libraries in person. In this third year of library visits, individual DLD consultants visited approximately 40 libraries around the state that have a wide range of service populations and per-capita operating income.

This year, DLD staff wrote a new strategic focus plan to guide the Division's activities through 2018. The plan responds to common themes and needs that were discovered during library visits and other individual communications with librarians.

DLD staff also greatly enhanced the Division's online presence with subject-specific Libguides geared toward an audience of library employees. New guides this year include health literacy, legal literacy, financial literacy, libraries and accessibility, children's services, E-rate, service centers, statistics, delivery service, statewide databases, and the statewide catalog.


Intent: Improve library operations.

Activity: Instruction
Mode: Consultation/drop-in/referral
Format: In-person


Quantity
Total number of consultation/reference transactions: 2,540
Average number of consultation/reference transactions per month: 212


Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No


Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No


Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General


Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 192
Academic Libraries: 0
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 0
Other: 0
Activity Details
Title: Library statistics
Narrative: An important responsibility of DLD is the compilation of statewide library statistics for use in planning, comparison of services, and promotion of library services. The State Library's Data Coordinator uses Excel and Bibliostat software to collect, analyze, and publish data annually. This statistical information is used by stakeholders such as public library trustees, administrators, and the general public, and it is a determining factor in state aid grants. The research and statistics also provide a comparative tool to analyze services among service areas. The Division makes available an automatic chart-maker tool and online tutorials to help libraries use the annual statistics to evaluate their libraries. Official 2014 statistics from 180 participating public libraries are available online at http://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/dld/stats. They are also shared with state and federal agencies through the Public Libraries in the United States Survey conducted by IMLS and are reported nationally to the Public Library Statistics Cooperative (PLSC).


Intent: Improve library operations.

Activity: Content
Mode: Other
Format: Digital
Other: Gathering


Quantity


Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No


Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No


Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General


Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 180
Academic Libraries: 0
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 0
Other: 0
Project Outcomes
Project Outcomes
List any important findings or outcomes from your project:

Please briefly describe importance of findings:

What methods did you use to determine your findings? Check all that apply:
Based on outputs, outcomes and/or other results, explain any significant lessons learned from these findings for either the SLAA or others in the LIS field:

Do you anticipate continuing this project after the current reporting period ends:
Yes
Do you anticipate any change in level of effort:
Yes: In future years, DLD will not pay for statistical software but will use Excel instead.
Do you anticipate any change in the project's scope:
Yes: Next year, consultants will implement a new liaison system of communicating with public library directors, to replace formal library visits. In addition, the Data Coordinator will move away from Bibliostat to collect statistics exclusively using Excel.
Do you anticipate any other changes in the project:
No
Exemplary: No
Exemplary Narrative
Project Tags: public library statistics