Advocating for your library has never been more important. Through numbers you can share the value of your library, sending a powerful message to your audience. However, just sharing the numbers without context can be confusing. As Len Bryan (2020) states in Data Informed Library Advocacy from #AASL19, "library numbers and statistics are pretty meaningless to anyone else unless they are connected to your school and/or district priorities."
Start your data journey by beginning with your school district's goals, beliefs, or commitments. Does your school district have a Continuous Improvement Plan? How does your library support the goals to increase student outcomes?
Look at these areas of your library to determine how they align with the district's goals:
In the eBook, Say It With Data: A Concise Guide to Making Your Case and Getting Results, Dando (2014) states that "positive, proactive communication through evidence-based advocacy is a necessity for successful library programs."
Sharing your library's story through numbers is important. Counting and keeping track of the day-to-day operations in your library is a great place to start. If you don't already, begin keeping track of the number of technology items that you manage, the number of students who use the library space, and how many times you helped a student find that just right book. This can be done with a notebook that you keep at the circulation desk, or you can make a digital form, such as Google Forms to keep track of library activities and usage.
Circulation and Catalog Reports
If you are automated through INFOhio's Library Services Platform (LSP), you should receive your library's usage data on the 1st of every month through your school email. These usage reports provide you with the number of check-ins and check-outs. Reporting the number of check-ins and check-outs is a simple number that tells not only the number of books that circulated through your library but also the number of library students and staff that used your library resources. If you are not receiving these reports, contact your INFOhio ITC Provider to be added to these emails. Here is an example of a report on Circulation Transactions from September 2019.
In addition, review the reports in the Report Favorites section of the Library Services Handbook. In particular, focus on the Promote Library and Statistics sections reports such as:
Digital Resource Use Data
INFOhio can share use data for ISearch (if your school is automated with INFOhio) and for many digital resources. Details about which resources are available can be found on the INFOhio Resource Use Data page. This page has been created and updated to make it easier to find each school district or building's usage of digital resources and Fetch and ISearch use. Click on INFOhio Digital Resource Use Data Dashboard or if automated with INFOhio choose the OPAC Use Data Dashboard: ISearch and Fetch.
Looking at the INFOhio Digital Resource Use Data Dashboard you can limit the data by dates, your school-specific IRN, and/or county. Once the search terms are inputted, scroll through the data results that include the usage of the INFOhio Website, BookFlix, Capstone eBooks and PebbleGo Next, ScienceFlix, ChiltonLibrary, CultureGrams, and World Book.
As the AASL Toolkit for Promoting School Library Programs states, “When it comes to getting your message across, how you share information can be as important as what you say” (p. 25). Sharing your usage data can be completed in eye-catching, engaging ways in the form of infographics, visual reports, and promotion on social media.
Once you have the statistics and data collected, spend some time reviewing and understanding your data. Put your data in an infographic to give your audience a clearer picture of your library numbers. Check out some of the free infographic creation tools like Canva, Easel.ly, and Piktochart.
Then share with your administrators, school district, and community how the numbers tell a story about the impact of your library on the community of learners in your school district.
Also, promote awareness by sharing on social media. The Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA) Communications team developed a fill-in-the-blank document that can be used to advocate for your library on social media. Similar to Mad Libs, those silly, laugh-out-loud, fill-in-the-blank word games, in this Library Libs version, fill in the blanks with your facts and figures and share these pre-created posts to your social media accounts with your administration and staff. Adding a picture or infographic will help draw attention to your post.
To learn more about library advocacy, take the Advocacy: Sharing the Value of Your School Library class in the School Library Basics Learning Pathway. After completing the course and submitting the final quiz, you can earn a certificate for 2 contact hours.
INFOhio is here to help. If you have questions or need help with advocacy, please contact us at support.infohio.org.
This blog was also featured on the Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA) blog on April 20, 2022.
Sarah Mowery is a Professional Instructional Specialist with INFOhio. She has worked in education for 16 years as a school librarian and technology coach in elementary and middle school settings. While in these roles, she's been an integral part of the building leadership teams working as a curriculum connector and integrating web-based tools. She earned a BA in Sociology from Bowling Green State University and an MLS with a specialization in PK-12 schools from East Carolina University. Sarah was one of the original INFOhio ICoaches when the program first began in 2013 and has a passion for sharing how INFOhio resources can transform teaching and impact learning for students and educators across the state of Ohio.
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