From the Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries 2017 conference and presented by Vickie Stangel, Director, Dodgeville Public Library; Kelly TerKeurst, Director, Dwight Foster Public Library (Fort Atkinson); Gus Falkenberg, Technology and Design Director, Indianhead Federated Library System (Eau Claire); Cindy Fesemyer, Director, Columbus Public Library; Sara Gold, Community Liaison and Service Specialist, WiLS; Andrea Coffin, Community Liaison and Service Specialist, WiLS Back by popular demand! Each year, a number of new reports about public libraries are produced by organizations like Pew, OCLC, Library Journal, The Aspen Institute, and others. These reports contain valuable information that can help us plan, develop services, and improve existing services, but unfortunately, few of us have the time to read every single one. The goal of this session is to help attendees get an overview of those reports and their implications for our work. Each panelist will share a summary of a report they believe is significant and discuss how they have used or will use the information at their library. Attendees will be encouraged to share other reports and insights that have mattered to them, too!

1. The Notable Reports Panel
Strikes Again!
Vickie Stangel, Director,
Dodgeville Public Library
Kelly TerKeurst, Director,
Dwight Foster Public Library
Gus Falkenberg, Technology and
Design Director, Indianhead
Federated Library System
Cindy Fesemyer, Director,
Columbus Public Library
starring
moderated by
Sara Gold and Andrea Coffin, Community Liaisons and Service Specialists, WiLS
WAPL 2016

2. Vickie Stangel, Director,
Dodgeville Public Library
State of America’s Libraries 2016 (ALA):
http://goo.gl/V0V8xo

3. 2016 The State of America’s Libraries
• Libraries today are less about what they have for
people and more about what they do for and with
people.
• Library professionals promote opportunities for
individuals and progress for communities.
• Libraries of all kinds add value in five key areas (the
E’s of Libraries): education, employment,
entrepreneurship, empowerment, and
engagement.
• Libraries are advancing the legacy of reading and
developing a digitally inclusive society.

4. Academic Libraries
• Academic libraries provide resources
and services to support the learning,
teaching, and research needs of
students, faculty, and staff.
• Surveys show that students and faculty
value academic libraries for their
success in demonstrating research
techniques, increasing student
information literacy, and managing
course reserves.
• Academic libraries are finding creative
ways to encourage student success
through technology spaces and digital
scholarship centers.

5. School Libraries

6. Public Libraries
• Why are Libraries Transforming?
As the need for such services as early childhood
literacy, computer training, and workforce
development has grown, the vital role public
libraries play in their communities has also
expanded.

7. Issues and Trends
•Children’s and Teen Services
•Design Thinking
•Digital Equity
•Media Mentorship
•Summer Learning
•Literacy
•Libraries Transform
•Community Engagement
•Intellectual Freedom
•Accreditation Standards

8. National Issues and Trends
• Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
• Privacy in the Digital Age
• Federal Library Funding
• Calls to Action in Support of Libraries

9. Kelly TerKeurst, Director,
Dwight Foster Public Library
Libraries at the Crossroads (Pew):
http://goo.gl/KL5a32

10. The Crossroads Moment
Shifting and Reshaping
What People Are Saying What People Are Doing
Compared to data from 2012, those
with less education and household
income, as well as rural Americans,
African-Americans and parents, have
reported larger-than-average declines
in library use!
Libraries are important
community institutions!
Offer us a range of new
programs and services!
We like using mobile apps!
We want you available 24/7!

11. Two Big Questions…
…that are really about the same thing (keeping the library open)
What should happen to books? What should happen to buildings?

12. Who Uses The Library
Building
• Women
• College Graduates
• 16 – 29 yr. olds
• Low to Middle Income
• Community Activists
And…the most frequent library
visitors are Hispanics!
Website and/or Mobile Apps
• Women
• Parents
• Young
• College Graduates
But…46% of people surveyed did not
know if their library had e-books!
Hispanics, women, parents of minor children and older adults are more
likely to say closing a library would have a major impact on their
community.

13. What People Do At The Library
• Borrow Books
• well-off and well-educated
• Help from a Librarian
• African Americans and lower-income
• Place to Sit, Read, Study
• young, Hispanics and lower-income
• Use Computers and Internet Access
• African Americans, Hispanics and lower-
income

14. What People Do At The Library
Use of librarian selected online resources has declined, as has using online database and searching the library catalog.

15. Public Wants 3 Things From Libraries
• Advance Education – support local schools; early literacy programs; programs
that teach people a skill
• An overwhelming majority of Americans see education as the foundation of the libraries’ mission.
• Serve Key Groups - veterans, job seekers, immigrants
• 74% surveyed said libraries should definitely have programs or services for veterans and active military
personnel.
• 59% surveyed said libraries should definitely have programs or services for immigrants and first-
generation Americans
• Improve Digital Literacy - libraries should embrace new technologies and
help patrons use it
• Unfortunately, even though people believe in the role of libraries in digital inclusion, relatively few
library users actually used the library for this purpose.

16. What Fort Atkinson & Dwight Foster Look Like
Our Community
• Population – 12,482
• 88% White, 9% Hispanic
• Median Resident Age – 38
• 92% High School +
• 27% BA +
• 15% in poverty
• Median Household Income - $47,300
• Families, Group Homes, Elderly
Our Library
• New building built with more space for
people not books
• Wifi upgrade
• Circulating seeds, knitting needles….
• Public Internet Use – 20,105
• Meeting Room Use – 2,341
• DVDs, Children’s Materials, Fiction
• Programs – 10,962 attendees
• Self Service Holds – coming soon
• Art Gallery
We are going through strategic planning to determine what our crossroad is and how
to deal with it.

17. Gus Falkenberg, Technology and
Design Director, Indianhead
Federated Library System
Libraries and Learning (Pew):
http://goo.gl/e4egpw

18. Summary
• Libraries are serving the educational needs of their communities
• Library users think of themselves as lifelong learners
• Users are often unaware of what learning-related programs libraries
offer

19. Response
• Your library’s users want to use the library to pursue their goals
• They can be divided into personal learners and professional learners
(and you need to understand the difference)
• There’s room for growth

20. Application
• Educate yourself on what resources are available
• Educate yourself on what interests/problems your community has
• Focus on learning a few resources really well
• Use your points of contact to match the right resource with the right
person
• Share your knowledge within the library
• Adapt and revise

21. Cindy Fesemyer, Director,
Columbus Public Library
Action Guide for Re-Envisioning Your Public
Library (Aspen Institute): http://goo.gl/XyzLrT

22. The Aspen
Institute’s
Action Guide for
Re-Envisioning
Your Public Library

23. Internal Assessment
• People
• Library staff
• Community expertise
• Place
• Library as community anchor
• In your building(s)
• Out in the community
• Platform
• The stuff you do
• The stuff to which you
provide access
• First 6 sections provide a nice
analysis of what you currently do

24. Sample Exercise: Library as People
• ACTivity: What are
some of the audiences
at your library?
Complete the audience
map.
• Do exercises with
various stakeholders
• Staff
• Trustees
• Friends of the
Library

25. Internal Analysis: SOAR
• Strengths
• What does the library do well now?
• What are your assets, strengths and capabilities?
• Opportunities
• Currently, how could your library make a
difference?
• Innovate?
• Contribute to the community?
• Aspirations
• Hopes and dreams for future?
• What do you want to be known for?
• Results
• What do you most want to accomplish?
• What does success look like?

26. External Assessment
• Strategies for Success
• Align library with community goals
• Provide access to content in all formats
• Ensure long-term sustainability of public libraries
• Cultivate leadership
• 15 Action Steps for Leaders
• Define scope of programs and services
• Partner with local organizations
• Deploy existing resources in new way
• Community Leaders
• Public Dialog
• Invite citizens and leaders (sample invitations)
• Convene and facilitate aspirational discussion (sample
questions)
• Next Steps
• Report results (sample press release)
• Form a committee or work group

27. Happy Thoughts
• Suggested uses for internal assessment tools (people,
place, platform, economic development, civic
resource, literacy champion):
• Before beginning a planning process to get people
thinking about what you do
• Educational piece for trustees, staff
• As an asset analysis
• Suggested uses for SOAR Exercise:
• Replace SWOT with SOAR for a more positive
experience
• Everything above
• Suggested uses for external assessment tools (success
strategies, leadership actions steps, community
leaders):
• Align library goals with community goals
• Pump up your own leadership goals
• A great excuse for taking community leaders out to
coffee

28. Less Happy Thoughts
• Public Dialog
• Check out the Harwood Institute’s Community
Conversation tool:
http://www.ala.org/transforminglibraries/libraries
-transforming-communities
• Ask same questions each time
• Great tips on facilitating and note taking
• How to theme
• Next Steps you won’t find in the Action Guide
• Report back to people who participated in
conversations. Get grassrootsy!
• Report back to find new partners or strengthen
existing partnerships
• Start small
• Build a bunch of small successes by starting with
visible, winnable projects (AKA low hanging fruit)

29. The Notable Reports Panel
Struck Again!
Want to keep the conversation going? Join the Facebook Group.
Notable Reports Panel: https://www.facebook.com/groups/908749452580518/
or contact today’s presenters:
Thank you!
WAPL 2016
Vickie Stangel: vstangel@swls.org
Kelly TerKeurst: kterkeurst@fortlibrary.org
Gus Falkenberg: falkenberg@ifls.lib.wi.us
Cindy Fesemyer: cindy@columbuspubliclibrary.info