This year, “traditional” New Year’s resolutions through a library lens. So far, we’ve explored ways to exercise more, live life to the fullest, eat healthier, lose weight, save money, get organized, and learn a new skill. This month, tackling one of the most common resolutions: reducing harmful habits. Rather than focusing on our own habits, we’ll explore the habits library programs develop over time. Just because we’ve always offered a program or presented it a certain way doesn’t mean that it’s still the best option. Instead, thoughful evaluation can help us find what no longer serves community needs, library goals, or even staff capacity.
Why Program Evaluation Matters
Our programs are only successful when they meet clear community needs and align with our vision and goals. However, those are often moving targets. Libraries exist in constantly changing environments. Community needs evolve, staff capacity shifts, strategic priorities change, and budgets fluctuate. Even the best programs reach the end of their lifecycle, and honestly reflecting on this means we adapt more quickly. Regular evaluation helps ensure programming evolves alongside our realities rather than responding to outdated assumptions. Intentional decision-making with our time, energy, and resources helps us steward limited resources to maximum effect. Evaluation is not about cutting programs. Rather, it’s about making room for more of what works by thoughtfully evaluating what doesn’t.
Define success before you evaluate.
After a program, how will you know you’ve succeeded? Different programs require different standards. Attendance is only one metric, and it may not be the best metric for every program. Having 10 teenagers show up may resonate more than having 50 storytime families. Consider additional metrics such as repeat attendance, learning outcomes, patron engagement and feedback, and your overall program goals. My library’s Programming Manager creates an operational plan each year where she identifies programming goals and standards. With infant programs, success starts at 10 attendees, because programs with lower attendance often create more meaningful interactions. However, toddler and preschool attendance success starts at 20 attendees, since we have proven attendance. Scheduling for early learning programs focuses on weekly options, while teen programs focus on a few, high-impact options with emphasis on summer engagement. At the end of the day, measure programs against their purpose, not each other.
Review programs using consistent criteria.
Once you’ve defined success, you must establish your review criteria. Even with different success metrics, your evaluation should be consistent, in both frequency and the questions asked. Consider scheduling a regular program review period using those consistent questions. Ensure that everything from your definition of success appears on the evaluation. If it’s important when planning, it should be important during evaluation. Without a good idea of what worked and what didn’t, you can’t make meaningful changes. My library uses a program evaluation form that includes questions for documentation, supplies and preparation, the program’s content, and patron impact and engagement. I send monthly reminders to staff who facilitated early learning programs. We combine this information with attendance statistics to consider what’s working and not. Qualitative feedback helps guide our content creation team in program revisions and updates. Build evaluation into your planning process rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Give programs time to grow.
While reviewing programs with consistent criteria on a consistent schedule is important, there are additional considerations. Having low attendance once doesn’t mean the program is a complete failure. Consider whether other factors, such as marketing, weather, or competing events, might impact attendance. Make note of these circumstances with your initial evaluation. Then, try the program again and see if its success changes. New programs often need multiple iterations before you see trends. Give the program a chance to grow and for your (and your community’s) marketing efforts to pay off. How often you offer the program may also impact your timelines. A program offered weekly will show trends much more quickly than one offered once per season. Establish an intentional pilot period based on the target audience, frequency, and overall programming goals. However, once that period ends, move forward with your intentional evaluation and decision-making.
Revise before you retire.
Before completely retiring a program, it’s important to consider whether changes might boost its success. Once you know a program isn’t working, consider why, using both patron and staff feedback. Then, look at specific revisions. Do concerns fall into the program’s concept or execution, audience, timing, or delivery method? Next, choose one or two intentional changes. If content seems too hard for the audience, adjust either the age range or your approach. For low attendance, consider improving marketing, offering programs at a different time, or switching formats. From there, give the program another chance and reevaluate. Last year, our system undertook a massive review and revision of our puppet shows. We found content needed to be more interactive, shorter, and geared toward a younger audience. This year, we’re intentionally scheduling our revised show to evaluate the changes. Make reasonable adjustments before giving up on a program.
Know when it’s time to let go.
Identify clear criteria for when programs fully retire. This isn’t always a program failure. Community interests shift, staff capacity changes, and strategic priorities alter. In those cases, programs reach a natural conclusion. In other cases, revisions and updates aren’t enough to garner the interest or success the program needs to remain sustainable. For concerns related to cost or capacity, temporary retirement provides opportunities to consider partnerships or alternative materials. However, removing programs entirely creates space for better alternatives. Use your data and honestly identify what isn’t working, then be okay with moving on. My library previously offered Storytime Around the World, which introduced different languages in a familiar storytime environment. However, staffing changes meant we didn’t have sufficient language skills to sustain it. Retiring the program made space to consider partnerships for language storytimes. Remember, retiring a program doesn’t erase its value as part of the library’s history.
Picture Book Tie-In: The OK Book
As you consider your programs, it’s important to remember that not every attempt is perfect. The OK Book by Amy Krause Rosenthal, featuring illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld, is a great reminder of this. The perfect pick for storytime, this title reminds readers that sometimes being okay is good enough, and it’s a great way to learn more. Readers may enjoy the details and that the word OK features prominently in each illustration. No matter what you’re trying, growth comes through experimentation. Programs don’t need to be perfect to teach us something.
As you build program evaluation practices, continually revisit your definition of success to ensure that your evaluation is honest and appropriate. Consider not only this year’s success but also success in the years to come. Healthy libraries aren’t ones that never change. They are willing to continually learn, adapt, and improve. Thoughtful evaluation helps us revise what we can improve and retire what no longer works, building programs that grow alongside our communities. For more inspiration, learn how to check on new services, evaluate programs, and ask questions. Stay tuned next month as we reduce stress by evaluating balance, staff needs, and internal processes. What program will you evaluate this month?
This post addresses ALSC Core Competency #3: Programming Skills and ALSC Core Competency #6: Administrative and Management Skills. Featured image created by Jaime Eastman, ALSC member.
Jaime Eastman is a senior Public Services Librarian and Early Learning Coordinator at the Harrington Library, one of the Plano (Texas) Public Library locations. Jaime is also working on at least two ambitious cross-stitch projects, dreaming of future travel plans, and reading far too many books. As a child, she wanted to grow up to be an author. Writing for the blog and publishing with Children and Libraries feels like a good start, and she regrets nothing about her adult decision to be a librarian doing storytimes, who didn’t have to grow up too much.
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