The Colorado Talking Book Library (CTBL) provides free library services to more than 6,000 patrons who, because of physical, visual, or learning disabilities are unable to read standard print material. In 2012 a survey was given to patrons of CTBL, where they shared their thoughts about the library’s services. Of the 549 patrons who responded to the survey, nearly all (99%) rated their overall experience with CTBL as excellent or good. Respondents also rated a list of eight individual service components highly, especially “courtesy of library staff,” “completeness and condition of books received,” and “speed with which they receive their books” (at least 98% “excellent” or “good” ratings). Across the 5 CTBL patron surveys that have been conducted between 2004 and 2012, patron satisfaction ratings have been consistently high, indicating a sustained level of excellence in library services. For more information, see the Fast Facts and Closer Look Report.

~Monica

We are excited to present a brand new set of tools for interacting with data from our Public Library Annual Survey. The new tools are packed with features, including:

• Quickly locate data for a single year and statistic group
• Build custom data sets by specifying years, statistics, libraries, etc.
• Visualize data using graphs and maps
• Export data in .csv format

Did you know that Library Research Service now has over 25 years’ worth of public library data available? Our new tools make finding and analyzing this data simple!

Follow me to the new public library interactive tools

~Rebecca

-Streamlining the process of conducting evaluations, using tools such as a data map, a customized website for collecting data, and accessible instructional materials for survey administration, such as the video that we created to help BTOP computer centers understand the survey administration process,

-Results highlights, and

-the resources we’ve provided to our BTOP computer centers to use their results for program planning, marketing, and advocacy purposes.

Here are the slides:

And, the outcome evaluation report can be found here.

~Linda

A report detailing all of the findings will be available soon–stay tuned!

• which web features, such as sharing interfaces,  virtual reference, and blogs, are most common on U.S. public libraries’ websites as of 2012,
• the extent to which public libraries use responsive and/or mobile-friendly web design, and
• public libraries’ integration with various social media networks.

Our discussion will be framed in terms of the implications of these web features for usability and patron engagement.

Are your open access computers consistently occupied?

Do you wonder what impact these services are having, and how to strategically plan and promote these services?

Join us for:

Knowing Who is Using Your Computer Center: The Key to Savvy Planning & Promotion

Tuesday, April 16

noon – 1 pm

http://connect.enetcolorado.org/btop/  (Please have headset and prepare to participate via chat)

Find out the results of a survey of more than 7,300 public computer center users throughout Colorado, including who is using the computers during open access time, who is taking classes, and how these services are impacting users’ lives.

Discover ways to use these results to better plan and market your services now and in the future.

BTOP libraries that participated in this study by gathering surveys will receive custom reports for your public computer center.

All public library staff are welcome to join and participate.

Presenters: Susan Burkholder, Linda Hofschire, and Sharon Morris of the Colorado State Library

Preliminary Status
A few libraries are still working on getting their data in, however, the vast majority have submitted their reports. The data is considered preliminary until we receive data from all public libraries and all edit checks have been resolved.

About Edit checks
The first round of edit checks are done before respondents complete and submit the survey. The second, third, and even fourth, round of edit checks are done by state library staff (read: me) in cooperation with the U.S. Census Bureau, the federal agency that collects and verifies the public library data for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Questions? Need more information? Contact me at steffen_n at cde.state.co.us.

Thanks to all the public library directors and their staff for submitting their PLAR data.
~Nicolle

Two versions of the infographic are available:

-One is optimized for online viewing

-And, the second is optimized for printing

A printing note: if you view the infographic PDF file in Firefox PDF viewer, it may not render properly. For best viewing and printing, click on the “open in different viewer” button in the top right corner of your browser, and select the option to open the file with Adobe Reader. The PDF file is optimized for printing on legal size paper.

We also maintain a bibliography of US school library impact studies for those who are interested in delving deeper into this topic.

~Linda

The Fast Facts also links to an early literacy resource guide provided by the Colorado State Library that libraries can use on their own websites. With the 2013 One Book 4 Colorado event coming this spring, this resource may be particularly useful to libraries as they develop materials and plan activities for this event.