Community-Led Evaluation
Vancouver Public Library
CLA 2012
Working Together Project
• National demonstration project
• Funded by HRSDC
• Four libraries:
o
o
o
o
Vancouver Public Library
Regina Public Library
Toronto Public Library
Halifax Public Libraries
• Develop community engagement strategies and approaches
in a public library context
• Working with socially excluded and underserved communities
• www.librariesincommunities.ca
• Toolkit available
Standard Evaluation
• Staff initiate and review various quantitative and
qualitative inputs such as:
• Statistics
o Attendance
o Collection use
o New cards issued
• Feedback forms
• Surveys
Community-Led Evaluation
• Staff and community members may use and
review traditional inputs
• Staff and community members also consider:
• How does the community define success?
• How did the process work?
• Did the service, program, policy address their
need(s)?
• What still needs to be done?
• What could have been done differently
• Any other questions staff and community
members consider important
Community-Led Evaluation at VPL
• First Nations Storyteller in Residence
project
• Broadway Youth Resource Centre
• Aboriginal Collection Evaluation
• Community-Led Selections Plan
• Teen Services Plan
Community-Led Evaluation at VPL
• Ongoing and iterative process
• Can be formal or informal
• So far, ours tends to be informal:
o Listen, ask lots of questions
o Develop program or service collaboratively
o Deliver program or service
o Ask lots of questions about the experience
o Listen
o Adjust or change the program
o Continue!
First Nations Storyteller in
Residence
• Initially the program was not developed in
consultation with the community
• Taken on by team that determined it needed to be
community-led
• Initial program plan included standard evaluation
methods, some of which were problematic
• Shifted to collaborative development of evaluation
methods by working with the Storytellers
• Final program evaluation and recommendations
for further programming led by Storytellers
Aboriginal Collections Evaluation
• In development
• Collaborative evaluation of collections
• Integration into collection development
guidelines for Aboriginal collections
Outcomes-based Evaluation at
VPL
• Development of an evaluation framework
built on logic models and research plans
• Logic models include:
o Goals
o Inputs
o Outputs
o Outcomes
• Evaluate impact
• Include community-led evaluation
Community-Led Selections Plan
• In development
• Outputs
• Outcomes
1. Library collection development decisions are
developed collaboratively with or directly
influenced by community participation
2. Library staff members are aware of and actively
use community-led and/or community
engagement strategies for collection
development
Teen Services Plan
• In development
• Outputs
• Outcomes
1.
2.
3.
4.
Teens across Vancouver have opportunities to engage
with the library through teen-determined library activities
at their neighbourhood branches
Teens across Vancouver believe that VPL sees them as
valuable and equal community members and that VPL
takes their needs seriously
Teens who have not traditionally engaged with the library
see the library as relevant and responsive to their needs
There are opportunities across the system for teens to
engage with other teens in the library context
Community-Led Evaluation at VPL
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Ongoing and iterative
Challenging
Can be time consuming
Ambiguous
Varying levels of interest in the community