NCompass Live: EDGE: Connecting Technology and Community
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GETTING THE EDGE!
NCOMPASS LIVE - JUNE 18, 2014
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Connect!
Lourdes Aceves Dr. Molly Kinney Senior Program Manager Executive Director Urban Libraries Council Mifflin County Library, PA
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
EDGE OVERVIEW
• Assess current public access technology and how it’s used
• Identify ways to strengthen or enhance public access technology
• Engage with key leaders about the role for the public library in improving communities
WHY IS EDGE IMPORTANT TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES?
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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The coalition of leading library and local government organizations working on Edge includes: • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation –funding partner for Edge • Urban Libraries Council – the lead agency for Edge • American Library Association, OITP • International City/County Management Association • LYRASIS • OCLC’s WebJunction • Public Library Association • State Libraries of California, Oklahoma and Texas • TechSoup Global • Universities of Maryland and Washington
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
THE EDGE ROUNDTABLE
BENCHMARKS ASSESSMENT
TOOL
RESOURCES
& CASE STUDIES
TRAINING REPORTING &
PRESENTATION
TOOLS
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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THE EDGE TOOLKIT
EDGE BENCHMARKS VERSION 1.0
11 benchmarks to assess public access technology services across three main areas
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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Engaging the Community
and Decision Makers
Organizational
Management
Community
Value
V 1.0 BENCHMARKS: COMMUNITY VALUE
Benchmark 3: Libraries provide technology resources to help patrons meet important needs related to personal goals and community priorities The library supports the use of public technology for :
3.1 Workforce development and entrepreneurship
3.2 eGovernment or legal purposes
3.3 Patrons pursuing educational opportunities
3.4 Health and wellness purposes
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Communities Achieve
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V 1.0 BENCHMARKS: ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY
Benchmark 5: Libraries build strategic relationships with community partners to maximize public access technology resources and services provided to the community 5.1 The library develops and maintains partnerships that amplify the library’s reach, avoid duplication of effort, aid the library in planning or advocacy, or are otherwise mutually beneficial 5.2 The library engages in technology outreach activities
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EDGE RESULTS IN PILOT LIBRARIES
Miami, OK • Digital Literacy • Strategic Planning Based on
Community Priorities • Library Staff Technology Expertise New Braunfels, TX • Strategic Partnerships • Library Staff Technology Expertise • Technology Inclusiveness
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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Identifies gaps & opportunities
Engages staff in improving
the library
Opens dialogue Communicates value
INTERNAL
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EDGE IS HELPFUL INTERNALLY & EXTERNALLY
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
EXTERNAL
Helps stakeholders connect technology in libraries with
achieving community priorities
+ + =
LIBRARY PUBLIC ACCESS
TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS ACHIEVING
COMMUNITY
PRIORITIES
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
EXECUTIVE TOOLS (REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS)
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
EDGE LIBRARY ACCOUNTS
• Overview
o Dashboard that shows progress o Ability to export and download details
• Assessment results and recommendations
• Ability to reopen assessment
• Ability to customize tools, register for training
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
LIBRARY ACCOUNTS
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
• Helps libraries contextualize their scores; focus is using peer comparison data to help libraries determine priorities and make strategic decisions
• Based on completions of the assessment from a representative national sample of public libraries
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
COMING SOON: PEER COMPARISON TOOL
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Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
MIFFLIN COUNTY LIBRARY
• Small/Rural
• Ranks 66 out of 67 counties in per capita income
• Aging
• We were already depressed so the latest “Great Depression” had an even more significant impact on our population and county
• Close knit community with many faith based organizations and civic groups
ABOUT MIFFLIN COUNTY
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• Three branches (we had 5 but closed two this year)
• 12 full and part-time staff
• 25 volunteers
• About $500,000 a year operating budget
ABOUT MIFFLIN COUNTY LIBRARY
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Communities Achieve
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• No Broadband
• 14 year old ILS
• Out-of-date technology plan
• Aging computers
• Uneducated staff – they didn’t know what they didn’t know
JANUARY 2013
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Communities Achieve
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HERE’S WHAT WE LEARNED AND IMPLEMENTED
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Communities Achieve
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• The Edge Initiative changed our service to the community
• Be terminally perky about the EDGE initiative. This isn’t one more thing you have to do!
• Permeate and integrate your organization with the initiative as
if your entire funding depended on EDGE participation • Take a long term approach to the initiative
• Understand that evoking the “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation” adds a layer of credibility to conversations with key stakeholders
• Realize that the results are probably not going to be anything new to you
• Remember the adage “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day….teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.” The Gates Foundation computers that public libraries received in the past were fish. The EDGE is designed to teach libraries how to fish.
ATTITUDE
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• Library’s Edge Leader
• Organization’s Leadership/Management Team
• All Staff, Board, Friends
• Funders – pick one person from each funding base and gain their support. Let them sell this initiative to their colleagues.
• Community at large
ALL ABOARD
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• Don’t be discouraged with all the recommendations • Prioritize over a several year period • Talk about the results and disseminate them to key stakeholders • Pick just 2 items that you think you can accomplish in a short
period of time • Add selected priorities to position descriptions at all levels • Pick one priority that the Board can focus on; pick another for the
Friends. Communicate with each how to ‘tie’ each priority to the other and to the initiative overall
OUR ASSESSMENT RESULTS
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• Ask the Friends, Funders, for a specific allocation for 1 Edge Priority
• Allocate money in next year’s budget for at least 1 priority
• Target specific community groups to fund a priority
ASK…ASK…ASK FOR SEED MONEY
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Communities Achieve
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• Keep “talking” about the Edge Initiative- Social Media, Letters to the Editor, Newsletters, community outreach, etc.
• Put the Edge logo on your webpage
• Use the tool kit as appropriate BUT customize it to YOUR community.
– Refine your elevator speech until it just rolls off your tongue.
– Be practical and answer the question “What can EDGE do for Me?” before someone asks
THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
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Most of this was done in-house with existing staff
• County Commissioners provided $16,000 in seed monies
(this didn’t cover all we’ve done but it surely helped)
• Shifted staff duties and ‘created’ a Technology Services Coordinator position using existing staff
• Completely new website
Our district center provided staff training, wrote some code, and helped us tweak, refine and enhance the site
MIFFLIN COUNTY LIBRARY’S RESULTS SINCE AUG. 2013
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Communities Achieve
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• New Broadband network
We hired a consulting firm to help us with this
• Updated our ILS and it’s now cloud based
• Installed Time and Print Management software in all public access computers
Our district center provided training and installation help
• Implemented staff training program to update and learn new skills
MIFFLIN COUNTY LIBRARY’S RESULTS SINCE AUG. 2013
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
THANKS TO EDGE, MCL IS ON A RIDE!
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
― Hunter S. Thompson
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
THANK YOU…WHAT’S NEXT
• Register for your Edge account at libraryedge.org
• Visit the Edge Support Center for help
• Download the Edge Assessment Workbook
• Engage staff and Complete the Assessment
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