Join the Research Institute for Public Libraries (RIPL) on Thursday, August 15, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 (MDT) for a webinar, “Exploring Public Libraries Survey Data for Peer Comparisons.”
Using library data to benchmark your library to its peers is easier than you think! In this 90-minute session, Dan Hensley (Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh) and Marisa Pelczar (Institute of Museum and Library Services)
will provide hands-on guidance on how to access federal data tools and use guided templates to help organize data for planning and assessment.
Dan and Marisa will will show participants how to access and analyze freely available data on their library, their library peers, and their community using Public Libraries Survey (PLS) data and the Library Search and Compare tool and point to other resources such as the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey tool to complement and contextualize the library data that is found. Participants will dive into these data resources by working with a scenario based on their own library or a library that is familiar to them.
Learn more about the webinar and register here. The webinar will be recorded for those who aren’t able to attend the live session. This is the sixth webinar in the monthly, yearlong series *12 Months to Better Library Data*, made possible by funding from the Mellon Foundation.