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State Data Coordinator Conference- Day Two
By admin | December 13, 2012
Day two at the conference was full of presentations and discussions about using national data. I’d like to share some information I learned about IMLS from Carlos Manjarrez, Director of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. As you may know, at one time libraries and museums were under the Department of Education. Now that it is a stand-alone agency, it focuses on the unique needs of libraries and museums and how those institutions serve our communities. While data is still extremely important, not only to justify programs but also to provide financial accountability, the agency is moving towards a model of using positive crowd-sourced feedback and evidence-based evaluation. As we have heard before, telling your library’s story is more important than ever
Recently, IMSL has begun to use the data gathered from libraries to identify gaps in service and potential partnerships. What do libraries do well that nobody else is working on? One area libraries are filling in is early childhood learning. Although many children are eligible for the Head Start program, many others do not quite qualify, or may not have access to a program. When children are not in places that help them develop skills before kindergarten, they tend to lag behind and stay behind for the rest of their school careers. IMLS started the Campaign for Grade Level Reading. This program follows students through third grade to make sure they can read through their grade level by the time they begin fourth grade. Libraries are in a position to partner with state education agencies and schools to fill this need. IMLS was instrumental in discovering the need and offering a solution. At the local level, if there is an area you find in your city or town that you are changing for the better, with or without a partnership, IMLS (and OLIS!) wants to hear your success stories.
If you would like to explore more of the projects IMLS is working on, you can visit www.imls.gov.
I’ll be wrapping up my conference soon, but I’ll be writing again on the last day’s activities.
Thanks!
Lauren
I’m staying at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which is incredibly beautiful. It’s currently all decorated with over 2 million lights for the holiday season.
Nighttime at the hotel
Topics: Future of Libraries, Grants, IMLS, Literacy | Comments Off on State Data Coordinator Conference- Day Two
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