1. An agency of the Office of the Secretary of Education and the Arts

2. PROJECT OUTCOME and SUMMER READING 2017
2017 SPRING FLING
PROJECT OUTCOME and SUMMER READING 2017
Presenter: Karen Goff
WVLA Spring Fling Conference
April 6-7, 2017
Summersville Arena and Conference Center

3. Session Plan Sign-in Sheet What is Project Outcome ?
2017 SPRING FLING
Session Plan
Sign-in Sheet
What is Project Outcome ?
Why is it Important ?
WVLC Project Summer Reading
Q & A

4. Project Outcome www.projectoutcome.org
Project Outcome- is a free toolkit that provides tools that enable libraries to:
measure the outcomes of programs and services
understand and aggregate findings from the patron surveys;
and, access resources designed to help use those findings to take action
Several WV libraries are already enrolled in Project Outcome.
Project Outcome is designed to give libraries easy tools to measure the true impact on the people they serve. Project Outcome positions us to gather better data to create better libraries.

5. It’s all FREE! Project Outcome Quick & simple surveys
Easy-to-use Survey Portal
Ready-made data reports
Visually interactive Data Dashboards
Resources & training
Again, Project Outcome is FREE. All you have to contribute is some time, effort, and the will to prove the value of libraries.
Users of Project Outcome report that the combination of the ready-to-go surveys and easy-to-use tools really help library staff
collect useable data; and
report it effectively.
It’s all FREE!

6. Measuring Impact
Libraries are increasingly asked to measure IMPACT Using evidence, not just anecdotes
Project Outcome provides free, simple tools to measure your library’s true impact on the people you serve.
Librarians are pretty good at counting things – also called OUTPUTS.
Materials checked out
Public access computer use
Program attendance
For years, libraries have measured their success through patrons’ actions and stories. If patrons used the library often – if they liked us - then all was well.
We are not very good about measuring and reporting IMPACT, sometimes referred to as OUTCOMES..
But times have changed. Funding is tighter than ever. We can’t justify our existence on intuition alone. Anecdotes don’t improve the way libraries do business. We have to demonstrate all the ways libraries meet community needs.

7. Measuring Impact Needs Assessment Patron Satisfaction Outcomes Outputs
You are already doing some impact measurement in your library. Outcome measurement is just another piece of the puzzle.
Needs assessments help answer - What Does Our Community Need?
Patron satisfaction surveys help answer - What Should We Do Better?
Outputs help answer - How Much Did We Do?

8. What is an Outcome?
Specific benefit from a library program/service Can be quantitative or qualitative Expressed as changes that individuals perceive Answers the question: What good did we do?
(Click for each line)
Here is what is meant by the term “Outcome”
Another way of phrasing that question is SO WHAT?

9. Measuring Impact = IMPACT
As a result of library programs and services, did library patrons: + Learn something new? + Gain confidence? + Change their behavior? + Gain awareness library resources?
(Click again for IMPACT box)
Instead of relying on stories, Project Outcome is designed to MEASURE impact - to demonstrate the different ways your library’s programs and services are helping patrons.
Project Outcome developed a formula to answer the SO WHAT question:
What happened because the library provided a particular program or service?
The four KEY outcomes that Project Outcome measures are listed on the slide.
= IMPACT

10. Survey Topic Areas
Outcome measurement surveys were developed for 7 areas ranging from early childhood literacy to education & lifelong learning to economic development.
Summer reading is WVLC’s target project. Why?
Almost all libraries have a summer reading program
Distinct beginning and end
Popular
Worthwhile

11. WVLC SUMMER READING PROJECT
2017 SPRING FLING
WVLC SUMMER READING PROJECT
GOAL :
Show Impact of Library Summer Reading Programs
By implementing a statewide summer reading evaluation project, WVLC and local libraries can WVLC demonstrate the importance of the program to state and local funders with a consistent message backed up with data.
First step – Sign up at

12. WVLC SUMMER READING PROJECT
2017 SPRING FLING
WVLC SUMMER READING PROJECT
ACTIVITIES - LIBRARIES
Register for Project Outcome
Present Summer Reading Programs
Distribute and Collect the Project Outcome Survey
Send Surveys to WVLC
The burden of administering the survey will fall on the local library but WVLC will take responsibility for data entry into the Project Outcome database.
Participation is voluntary. Ideally, all libraries will participate.

13. Project Outcome Roadmap
LIBRARIES
WVLC
LIBRARIES
Another view of the process.
I’m hoping that by assuming the data entry part of the project, I can encourage more of you to participate.
Surveys can be distributed in paper and online. They can be distributed at individual programs throughout the summer reading timeframe, at the end, or both. The goal is to get a significant number of surveys returned.
My thought with paper surveys is that you can ask volunteers to help both the kids and the parent/caregivers fill them out. Which brings us to another question.
There are 2 surveys – Participant and Parent/Caregiver. Examples of each are attached and available on the Project Outcome website.
LIBRARIES & WVLC

14. Immediate Survey Patron-Reported Learning Open-Ended Feedback
Immediate Impact
End of Program
Less Staff Time
Both of the Participant and Parent/Caregiver are Immediate Survey types. They are designed to capture patron-reported learning and the immediate impact of the program. The immediate survey takes less staff time than the other methods – it only requires a little bit of planning.
6 questions – 4 multiple choice; 2 comments. You can add questions of your own but, to maintain the integrity of the statewide survey, you can’t change the Project Outcome questions.
You will need to decide when to survey, give out the surveys, assist with getting them filled out, collect them, and send to WVLC.
If you want to use the online survey too, you need to schedule it on the Project Outcome website.

15. Survey Results: Summer Reading /Caregiver
This is an example of the basic survey results indicating how local library scores compare on a state and national level.
WVLC will not be identifying individual libraries. This is not a report card type project.
We may compare the overall state average with the national average but more likely we will be using statements such as:
XX% of WV summer reading participants reported learning something new from what they read or experienced.
XX% reported they are reading more often.
XX% of parents/caregivers of summer reading program participants reported that their child maintained or increased their reading skills.
This type of reporting combines data and story to demonstrate IMPACT. Hopefully we will also get some good comments to add to the report.

16. Project Outcome also offers several reporting tools, making it easy to review, interpret, analyze, and share survey results. More examples on Project Outcome site.
We want you to register ( so both you and WVLC have access to the results.
Questions??????