Winning Elections and Influencing Politicians for Library Funding

Sweeney, Patrick (PC) and John Chrastka. Winning Elections and Influencing Politicians for Library Funding. Neal-Schuman, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1556-1

Description
Written by two experienced library campaigners and filled with easy to follow strategies, this book will guide ballot committees, librarians, trustees, and library advocates through the process of winning an election for funding their library.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1    Getting Started
Chapter 2    Surfacing
Chapter 3    Schmoozing and Networking
Chapter 4    Early Work and Political Landscape Memo
Chapter 5    Power Mapping
Chapter 6    Building Your Vote Yes Committee
Chapter 7    Committee Roles and Responsibilities
Chapter 8    Getting on the Ballot
Chapter 9    Campaign Budget
Chapter 10    Fund-Raising
Chapter 11    Volunteers
Chapter 12    Theme and Message
Chapter 13    Responding to Opposition
Chapter 14    Earned Media
Chapter 15    Paid Media
Chapter 16    Voter Data
Chapter 17    Polling
Chapter 18    Website and Digital Platforms
Chapter 19    Canvassing and Phone Banking
Chapter 20    Campaign Events
Chapter 21    E-Mail
Chapter 22    Facebook

Managing the Successful School Library

Farmer, Lesley S. J. Managing the Successful School Library: Strategic Planning and Reflective Practice. ALA Neal-Schuman, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1494-6

Program Description

To ensure their libraries survive and thrive, school library managers need to be both responsive and proactive. Looking past the day-to-day operations of a school library, Farmer’s book serves as a reality check: school libraries must align with school mission statements and policies, while simultaneously negotiating for proper budgets and resources alongside other departments. It’s a daunting prospect, but Farmer demonstrates how it can be done with the proper attention and systematic planning. Taking a deeper, more professional look at management that applies theories and principles to real-world situations, this book

• introduces the concept of school library programs and provides an overview of school library program management;
• examines professional and legislated standards for school libraries, and discusses the part a manager plays in meeting them;
• links management with leadership, differentiating the two, and showing how the school librarian can carry out both roles;
• helps readers assess their own skills, knowledge, and dispositions in order to set short-term and long-term goals;
• explains how to manage resources and learning environments to meet the needs of teachers, administrators, parents, and other stakeholders;
• offers guidance for developing and working with budgets, obtaining additional funding, and using collaboration to support the school library program;
• provides concrete advice on hiring, training, supervising, assessment, and recognizing library workers and other library team members; and
• includes tools for communicating effectively and getting the message across.

More than just a compendium of management theories, this book provides much food for thought that will help readers gain important insights into their own roles as school library managers and leaders.

Table of contents

Tapping Into...School Librarians

Church, Audrey P. Tapping Into the Skills of 21st-Century School Librarians: A Concise Handbook for Administrators. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-47581890-1

Publisher's Description
Strong school librarians positively impact student learning, and principal support is key. This concise handbook provides an overview of the roles of the 21st-century school librarian—teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, instructional leader, and program administrator. A valuable and informative resource, it gives principals the information they need to know in order to utilize the library program and librarian to the fullest potential to contribute to the instructional program of the school.

Review
In a review on the National Association of Elementary School Principals website, a school administrator explains what she finds valuable in this book.

Activism and the School Librarian

Levitov, D. D. (Ed.). (2012). Activism and the School Librarian: Tools for Advocacy and Support. Santa Barbara , CA: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN: 978-1-61069-187-1

Publisher's Description 

This book provides practical strategies and step-by-step plans for developing advocacy initiatives for school libraries.

School libraries provide an essential service to the community, but without proper funding few libraries stand a chance to maintain the resources they offer—or to survive at all. School librarians can play an instrumental role in the survival of their programs. This how-to book provides school librarians with effective advocacy and activism strategies for promoting and improving their library programs.

Activism and the School Librarian: Tools for Advocacy and Survival offers straightforward, practical approaches for creating advocacy programs. This guidebook examines the characteristics for becoming an advocate, explores the meaning of advocacy/activism as an effort that is ongoing and proactive, and provides the steps required for initiating a successful program. The contributors address the various types of advocacy and activism, including legislative advocacy at the local, state, and national levels; school and district level programs; and community-based initiatives. The book includes expert advice from successful advocates and provides helpful reproducible tools.

Features

• Practical advice from expert advocates
• Step-by-step guidance for developing an advocacy program
• A comprehensive glossary of terms
• An examination of the proactive role of school librarians in successful advocacy initiatives

Highlights

• Covers various types of advocacy, including legislative, school-based, and community-driven strategies
• Includes helpful reproducible tools
• Reveals personal characteristics of successful advocates
• Contains resource lists for additional reading

Seven Steps

Martin, A. M. (2012). Seven Steps to an Award-Winning School Library Program (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN: 978-1-59884-766-6

Publisher's Description 

This comprehensive book takes the reader through the necessary steps to develop user buy-in and assistance in creating a learner-driven library program. The result? A unique, exemplary school library program that is eligible for national awards.

Creating an award-winning school library program involves more than simply following the guidelines and standards available that describe what an exemplary program should accomplish. Effecting the changes necessary is often a process that presents multiple challenges along the way—especially when there is insufficient buy-in to the changes.

 

This updated second edition of Seven Steps to An Award Winning School Library Program begins with a description of an existing model school library program and then describes steps that emphasize how to develop user buy-in and assistance in achieving the results of a learner-driven library program. In addition to providing descriptions of detailed actions to perform, advice on working with staff, and background information on change theory, this book also includes practical documents, diagrams, processes, workshop ideas, lesson plans, and tips when filling out applications for awards.

Highlights 

• Provides a framework in which the reader uses the national library program standards to meet local user needs
• Serves as an excellent resource for library management and administrative courses
• Presents a living model that helps readers understand the ways the national guidelines and principles for exemplary library programs need to be incorporated
• Identifies essential actions which will produce librarians who are active leaders

School Libraries Matter: Views from the Research

Dow, Mirah J.  School Libraries Matter: Views from the Research. Santa Barbara, CA, Libraries Unlimited, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61069-161-1

From the publisher:
As school districts across the United States increasingly question the need for trained librarians, this collection of research-based evidence helps make the case for a state-licensed librarian in every school.

While serving on the AASL legislation committee, Mirah Dow recognized the urgent need to utilize research-based evidence to prove school librarians are much more than an educational luxury. This collection is the result. It brings together school library research studies and findings from the past decade and draws connections to how they can be applied to situations and questions that occur in practice. Taken as a whole, the research underscores that state-licensed, school librarians are a necessity for 21st-century students.

Chapters center on important research studies from the past decade that examine data and locate school libraries within operational contexts. Methodologies are explained and findings summarized, while notes clarify practical applications for school librarians. Because each chapter includes a connection to broad realms of theoretical influence in the social sciences, the work will also be relevant to educators and public policymakers, arming them to better communicate research-based links between investments in school libraries and student learning outcomes.

Features
collection of research-based evidence helps make the case for a state-licensed librarian in every school.

• Utilizes evidence-based findings to explain why school libraries — and trained librarians — matter
• Illustrates the progression of ideas around current education debates
• Shares numerous examples of quantitative and qualitative research design and application
• Summarizes the importance of each study and its practical application for working school librarians

Sample Topics

• Common Core State Standards
• Information and Technology Literacy
• Interdisciplinary Theory Building
• Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (AASL)
• Student Achievement

Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations

 

Denning, Stephen. The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations. Routledge, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-7506-7355-6.

Description
Libraries need to hone their stories to effectively communicate with their various constituencies, and Stephen Denning's book can help. Denning teaches storytelling as a powerful and formal discipline for organizational change and knowledge management. His book explains how organizations can use certain types of stories ("springboard" stories) to communicate new or envisioned strategies, structures, identities, goals, and values to employees, partners and even customers.

You may also want to check out Telling the Story of Your Library’s Impact, a webinar hosted by Gale/Cengage and the State Library that describes and provides some specific tools for gathering and crafting library stories for advocacy.

Friends Groups...School Libraries

Reed, Sally G. Friends Groups: Critical Support for School Libraries [toolkit]. Philadelphia: United for Libraries, 2013.

About the Toolkit

...gives tips on gaining school support; raising the profile of the school library; generating excitement; establishing a friends group of parents, faculty and community members; creating a student friends group and more.

“With school libraries closing across the country, it is becoming more important than ever before for school librarians to develop friends groups,” said United for Libraries Executive Director Sally Gardner Reed. “Friends have been keeping public libraries open and even staving off budget cuts for years – they can do the same for school libraries.”

This toolkit is also available online.

Getting Started With Evaluation

Hernon, Peter, Robert E. Dugan, and Joseph R. Matthews. Getting Started with Evaluation. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2014. 
ISBN: 978-0-8389-1195-2

Publisher's Description

Everyone agrees that evaluation of library services is essential, but without a background in research it can be a challenge to apply abstract concepts such as strategic planning, evidence-based decision making, and accountability to real-world situations. Finally library managers have a workbook to help them master key concepts of service quality assessment, offering directed exercises and worksheets to guide them. Firmly rooted in practical application, this book

• Presents an overview of evaluation and the types of metrics, linking them to strategic planning and infrastructure
• Examines qualitative versus quantitative measures
• Shows how to decide which metrics are relevant to one’s own institution, covering benchmarking, best practices, peer group filters, and those metrics that offer a high return on investment
• Includes pointers for launching and maintaining successful library evaluation through flexibility and smart delegation among library staff
• Offers advice on marshaling data to effectively communicate the value and impact of a library and its services, no matter the audience

Complete with a detailed list of sources for metrics and concrete examples of evaluation in practice, this workbook will be both valuable and immediately useful to managers at academic and public libraries, as well as to library trustees and others interested in assessing service quality. 

Table of Contents

Preface

1.  Evaluation

2. Evidence-Based Planning and Decision Making

3. Library Metrics

4. Internal Evaluation for Planning and Decision Making

5. External Evaluation to Inform Stakeholders and to Guide Continuous Improvement

6.  Measuring Satisfaction

7.  Measuring Service Quality

8.  Measuring Return on Investment (ROI)

9. Measuring the Value of the Library and Its Services

10. Using and Communicating the Results

11. Positive Organizational Change

Selected Readings

About the Authors

Index 

Say It With Data

Dando, Priscille. Say It With Data: A Precise Guide to Making Your Case and Getting Results. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2014. 
ISBN: 978-0-8389-1194-5

Publisher's Description

Administrators, policymakers, legislators, and the public demand concrete, measurable evidence of the need for libraries and their use. The collection and dissemination of data about library service in a straightforward, convincing manner are integral components of library advocacy in the current economic climate. Addressing frontline librarians lobbying for increased programming or staff, as well as administrators marshalling statistics to stem the tide of budget cuts and prevent library closure, this vital new book explores the whys and hows of using data to build a better picture of library needs and success. With a distinctive combination of research-based information and practical application, Dando

• Demonstrates how data from surveys, focus groups, ALA, and state and local sources can be aggregated and used to craft a strong message
• Takes readers step by step through the process of using data to tailor a message to specific audiences
• Offers real-world examples from school and public libraries that can be used as models

Addressing the requirements of a variety of stakeholders, this concise resource lays out an easy-to-follow, systematic way of inspiring action through clear, compelling data. 

Table of Contents

Preface 

Acknowledgments

1 Determining Need, Message, and Audience 

2 Secrets of Effective Communication 

3 Working with the Power of Statistics 

4 Methods of Measurement: Surveys 

5 Methods of Measurement: Focus Groups 

6 Presenting Data to Get Results 

Appendix A: Survey Checklist 

Appendix B: Focus Group Checklist 

Appendix C: Data Presentation Checklist 

Appendix D: Birmingham Public Library Patron Survey 

Appendix E: Sample Student Survey, Robert E. Lee High School 

Appendix F: Sample Teacher Survey, Robert E. Lee High School 

Appendix G: Westborough Public School Library Survey (Faculty) 

Appendix H: Sample Survey Results for Analysis 

Bibliography 

Index 

Empowering Leadership

Martin, Ann M. Empowering Leadership: Developing Behaviors for Success. Chicago: American Association of School Librarians, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-8389-8657-8

Publisher's Description
This book takes the mystery out of leadership by illustrating the visible and invisible components of leadership. Essential questions, reflective strategies, and practical tips within each chapter will bring school librarians to their next level in leadership while they recognize the hidden leadership opportunities in daily tasks that are already central to the profession. Empowering Leadership offers lessons and examples to improve the leader within and encourage development of each librarian’s unique leadership style.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Section 1. People: What Do You Say to That?

Chapter 1. Knowing Your Customers

Chapter 2. Assessing and Approaching Power Brokers 

Chapter 3. Building Strong Partnerships 

Chapter 4. Consensus through Managing Complexity 

Section 2. Dispositions: Batman Saves the Day 

Chapter 5. Confidence 

Chapter 6. Coaching 

Chapter 7. Humor 

Chapter 8. Authenticity 

Section 3. Communication: Reserved for Parties of Three or More 

Chapter 9. Preparedness 

Chapter 10. Clarity 

Chapter 11. Silence 

Chapter 12. Results 

Section 4. Responsibilities: Follow the Leader 

Chapter 13. Visioning 

Chapter 14. Empowering 

Chapter 15. Decision Making 

Chapter 16. Recognizing Contributions 

Section 5. Self-Assessment: True North 

Chapter 17. Reflection 

Chapter 18. Innovation 

Chapter 19. Evidence-Based Practices 

Chapter 20. Understanding the Future 

CONCLUSION

Works Cited 

Appendix A. Index 

Appendix B. Learning4Life 

Appendix C. L4L Publications

Transforming Our Image, Building Our Brand

Gross, Valerie J. Transforming Our Image, Building Our Brand: The Education Advantage. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-59884-770-3

Publisher's Description
Those in the library profession have the power to permanently dispel all misperceptions about libraries, and be fully valued for what they do. How? By simply adopting a new approach that applies carefully selected words to enhance their perceived value, and to position libraries as the provider of what the world values most: education.

Transforming Our Image, Building Our Brand: The Education Advantage examines how the "Three Pillars" approach harnesses the power of language to enhance respect, generate increased perceived value, and garner funding. The power stems from positioning all that library professionals do under three, easy-to-remember "pillars," and replacing typical library terms and phrases with bold, value-enhanced terminology that commands value—language that people outside of the field can immediately understand. This book is essential reading for public library staff members at all levels of the organization, especially those in leadership roles; and its root concepts are applicable for all other library types as well.

Highlights
• Demonstrates how to heighten any library's visibility and stature
• Redefines libraries in a new, innovative way that conveys their true worth
• Aligns the library with what the community values most: education
• Teaches how to incorporate value-enhancing words into everyday lexicon
• Presents marketing strategies that can immediately be integrated into your work
• Provides guidance on introducing the “Three Pillars” philosophy and strategic vocabulary concepts to your staff, board, elected officials, and community
 
Sample Topics
Advocacy
Branding
Community Education
Curriculum
Leadership
Management/Administration
Marketing
Public Relations
Strategic Planning
Vision/Mission

Breakthrough Branding: Positioning Your Library to Survive and Thrive

Walters, Suzanne and Kent Jackson.  Breakthrough Branding: Positioning Your Library to Survive and Thrive.  Chicago: Neal-Schuman, 2013.  021.7 Walte   ISBN 978-1555707668

Branding provides a unique way for a library to distinguish itself: its identity, personality, and image. Drawing on five vividly unique case studies from libraries across the country, Breakthrough Branding: Positioning Your Library to Survive and Thrive shows how to mesh your library's brand deeply and seamlessly within your internal culture, to leverage and better position your brand for the audiences you serve, and develop and implement promotional strategies and tactics consistent with your objectives. Experienced marketers and branding consultants Suzanne Walters and Kent Jackson offer clear advice regarding the art and science of library branding, advocacy, ethical considerations, marketing management and evaluation throughout the book's three sections:

• Branding explains what a brand is and how to assess, develop and utilize your brand as an important institutional asset, with insider tips on environmental scanning, market research, and situation analysis;
• Positioning leads you through the process of effectively addressing your target audiences;
• Promotion helps you develop an integrated marketing communication strategy, including how to craft on-target messages, leverage your online presence to inform and engage with community members, and capitalize on traditional marketing channels, with guidance on public relations, event strategies, email, websites, and more.

The Whole School Library Handbook 2

Woolls, Blanche, and David V. Loertscher, eds. The Whole School Library Handbook 2. 2nd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1127-3

Publisher's Description

This new edition of an ALA bestseller remains an indispensable all-in-one resource for everything related to the school library media center. Articles from dozens of respected authors and experts, culled from popular journals such as Knowledge Quest and School Library Journal, cover everything of interest to the contemporary school librarian, including

• Professional development and career guidance
• Information on collection development and school library resources such as books, periodicals, e-mail discussion groups, databases, websites, and more
• Programming, partnering, promoting, and collaborating for student success
• Innovative ways to use technology like social networking and e-books in service of education
• Tips for analyzing and strengthening ongoing programs
• Building and maintaining healthy relationships with stakeholders

Covering a wide range of important information in one handy volume, this stimulating handbook is a must-have for every school librarian.

Table of Contents 
The publisher posted a table of contents online.

Make a Big Impact @ Your School Board Meeting

DelGuidice, Margaux, and Rose Luna. Make a Big Impact @ Your School Board Meeting. Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-59884-900-4

Publisher's Description

This book details effective strategies for promoting a library beyond the building level in order to make an impact with the influential individuals who make the key decisions that directly affect the school district and library program.

The recent economic climate has deeply affected library programs across the country. Many librarians are understandably concerned about budget cuts and staff positions being eliminated. In order to avoid these negative impacts, librarians must be effective advocates for their programs and reach out to the administrators and community members who can champion their cause.

Make a Big Impact @ Your School Board Meeting was inspired by the authors' experiences speaking at local and national library conferences on the topic of making presentations to school boards and forging relationships with key administrators. It became clear that many librarians are unsure how to create a comprehensive marketing plan, and are simply too busy with their day-to-day tasks to tackle this daunting project.

This book is written specifically for K–12 librarians in the field. It can also serve as an instructional tool for school library certification programs. It spotlights the importance of ongoing advocacy and leadership, teaches school librarians how to demonstrate the tremendous value of their library programs and how they directly impact student achievement, and showcases library-specific marketing techniques that can be used during good and poor economic times. By using the straightforward methods and tools provided, librarians will greatly improve their ability to avoid detrimental budget cuts to their programs.

Features
• Supplies critical marketing, outreach, and public relations tools, including a sample monthly report for the school principal and sample press releases
• Provides an extensive checklist to help librarians prepare for the night of the school board presentation
• Includes useful forms such as a customizable advocacy PowerPoint presentation accessible from the accompanying CD
• Describes useful Web 2.0 tools for advocacy and reaching the audience

Highlights
• Supplies critical marketing, outreach, and public relations tools, including a sample monthly report for the school principal and sample press releases
• Provides an extensive checklist to help librarians prepare for the night of the school board presentation
• Includes useful forms such as a customizable advocacy PowerPoint presentation accessible from the accompanying CD
• Describes useful Web 2.0 tools for advocacy and reaching the audience

Marketing Your Library’s Electronic Resources

Kennedy, Marie R. and Cheryl LaGuardia.  Marketing Your Library’s Electronic Resources.  Chicago: ALA, 2013.  025.284 Kenne    ISBN 9781555708894

It's often hard to juggle promoting a library's e-resources effectively at the same time as building basic visibility within the community it serves. Useful for librarians at any type of institution, this How-To-Do-It Manual guides readers through every step of developing, implementing, and evaluating plans to market e-resources in an approachable and user-friendly way. Kennedy and LaGuardia show how front line librarians can improve awareness of under-utilized resources and increase demand for more of the same, thereby encouraging increased funding. Their book includes:

• Four complete programs from both public and academic libraries
•  A step-by-step organization guide, with a variety of feedback and assessment forms which can be used as models
• Numerous examples of well-executed plans and outcomes

Simply Indispensable

Gilmore-See, Janice. Simply Indispensable: An Action Guide for School Librarians. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2010.
ISBN: 978-1-59158-799-6

Publisher's Description

A structured approach to advocacy for K-12 school librarians focuses their energy on an active path that showcases library programs and resources and expresses the essential role librarians serve in school and student success.

Across the United States, school librarians are faced with cut-backs. Some librarians are asked to manage libraries in two or more buildings. Others are asked to teach classes in which they hold certification or are even placed in classrooms full-time. How can you position yourself and your library as indispensable—before cuts are announced?

Keeping a library program vital requires regular reflection about current practices and a willingness to implement changes that will position the library and library staff should they be threatened with elimination. Simply Indispensable: An Action Guide for School Librarians helps librarians do just that. The book begins with an explanation of the need to act and then offers a systematic approach to taking action. Each chapter is devoted to an active path: attracting patrons; interacting with teachers, parents, administrators, and the community; communicating; reacting to "situations;" working for reinstatement if the worst happens, and more.

The book covers advocacy—from the subtle exercise of developing excellent programs to the overt outreach of Legi-Days. Additionally, there is specific information about what to do when the RIF notice or pink slip arrives or if cuts are made, including how to properly close a library. After putting these actions into effect, school librarians will have a cadre of supporters ready to speak for them should the need arise.

Features
• Ideas and templates to help librarians systematically bring library programs into the stakeholder's field of vision
• Quizzes to reinforce suggested actions

Highlights
• Helps school librarians raise awareness so decision-makers will have a clear vision of the essential nature of the school librarian's role and how it is key to the success of the school as a whole
• Enables school librarians to follow a deliberate plan of action to effectively communicate their value and empower others to speak on behalf of the library
• Gives school librarians an exhaustive list of creative ways to get out of the library and increase their profiles
• Challenges teacher librarians to seriously examine their philosophies and evaluate all aspects of the library program, including the pros and cons of expanding the range of services they offer 

Independent School Libraries

Hand, Dorcas, ed. Independent School Libraries: Perspectives on Excellence. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2010.
ISBN: 978-1-59158-803-0

Publisher's Description

The first book published about independent school libraries since 1985, this work offers both the independent school library community and the broader school library community a wealth of insights into excellence in library practice.

Freed of many of the restrictions that govern public schools, librarians in independent schools have a unique opportunity to develop new ideas and methods. Among these are the "information commons" where technology, media services, and traditional library services intersect, providing students with the resources they need to do their best work. What other learnings do these library laboratories provide?

Independent School Libraries: Perspectives on Excellence offers readers insights into best practices in library services for school communities, using examples drawn from independent schools of various sizes, descriptions, and locations across the United States. Two overview essays introduce a statistical analysis of independent schools. Each of the remaining essays provides perspective on a different aspect of library practice, including staffing, advocacy, assessment, technology, collaboration, programs beyond the curriculum, intellectual freedom and privacy, budgeting, accreditation, disaster planning, and more.

Because independent school librarians work across divisions and without a mandate to adhere to state or national standards, they have the freedom to explore and refine best practice in a school library setting. Fortunately, the ideas and methods they have developed, many of which are on display here, can be applied in any school library.

Features
• 21 essays from major experts in the field, representing single-sex and coed schools, K-12 and K-8 schools, religious and secular schools, large and small schools
• Statistical analysis of data collected about independent schools
• A bibliography with each essay
• Foreword by Pauline Anderson, librarian emeritus, Choate-Rosemary Hall School, Wallingford, CT

Highlights
• Includes a unique statistical analysis, revealing new insights into common practice among independent school libraries
• Looks to the future without losing track of the historical importance of libraries to their academic communities
• Supports and demonstrates advocacy, a theme that recurs throughout the book

The Power of Data

 Andrews, Sandra D. The Power of Data: An Introduction to Using Local, State, and National Data to Support School Library Programs. Chicago: American Association of School Librarians, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-8389-8617-2

Publisher's Description

The Power of Data discusses the use of data sets to establish goals for school library programs. Highlighting data available at the local, state, and national levels, the book takes a look at how school librarians can use available data to influence decisions at the local level. The Power of Data will increase the ability of school librarians to effectively use existing data and to articulate the analysis of that data to the people who need the information, including principals, superintendents, school boards, parents, teachers, and students. 

Chapters

One: Considering the Questions

Two: Data and Data Analysis

Three: Local and State Data

Four: National Data

Five: Benchmarking

Six: Standards and Guidelines

Seven: Advocacy

Geek the Library: A Community Awareness Campaign. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 2011. 021.7 Geek. ISBN 978-1-55653-393-8

Geek the Library, a community awareness campaign designed to highlight the vital role of public libraries and raise awareness about the critical funding issues many libraries face, was developed based on the research findings included in From Awareness to Funding: A study of library support in America. This study, published by OCLC in 2008, found that increasing funding support for public libraries requires changing community perceptions. This new report documents the results of the Geek the Library pilot campaign conducted in partnership with nearly 100 public libraries in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. The results are optimistic.
The report suggests that Geek the Library can change perceptions about libraries, librarians and public library funding, and that implementation of the campaign can positively impact public library funding trends. Findings include:
· Geek the Library gets people's attention. In just five months, more than half of surveyed residents were familiar with the campaign.
· Geek the Library raises awareness. Perceptions and attitudes around the library's importance and value in the community improved in southern Georgia, and more people said they were willing to fund the library.
· Geek the Library encourages action. Over two-thirds of surveyed residents in both southern Georgia and central Iowa had planned or had taken an action as a result of the campaign, including talking to friends and family about the library or attending a library event.
The report contains details from qualitative and quantitative research, as well as interesting insights based on the experiences of participating libraries.