|
Dear Chapter Leaders,
I am reaching out to let you know that PLA's 2022 Public Library Services for Strong Communities Survey is now open, with a deadline of December 10, 2022. This unique national survey directly complements IMLS and state data and will answer pressing questions like: What are current and emerging types of programs, services, and facilities in public libraries? How do these services meet community needs and foster resilience? What types of partnerships do libraries have and how do they support our communities?
Policymakers and reporters frequently pose these questions to PLA and ALA, and they tie directly to our advocacy seeking federal funding for library construction and upgrades. We hope that you will encourage public library directors in your state to take the time to complete this survey before December 10 so that we have representative national data. As always, PLA will publish a freely available report of national findings in less than a year after data is submitted. Reports on the 2020 Technology Survey and 2021 Staff and Diversity Survey results can be found on our website.
Every public library (including tribal libraries that may not have an FSCS key) in the nation is invited to participate in the survey at librarybenchmark.org. Libraries may email plaben...@ala.org with any questions about the survey or for assistance accessing the survey portal. Through Benchmark, all public libraries have free access that allows them to:
- View and complete open surveys, including the 2022 Public Library Services for Strong Communities Survey.
- See the library's responses submitted to past PLA and PLDS surveys.
- View charts of selected library metrics.
- Manage the library's contact information and contact preferences to ensure the library receives survey-related communications.
- Access data-related resources.
We hope and believe many public libraries will seek the additional features available to Benchmark subscribers, but no subscription is needed to participate in the survey, access the published survey report, or see key visualizations through the portal.
After hearing from state data coordinators, IMLS staff, and public library leaders that they wanted less redundancy in data collection and better peer comparison data, PLA retired our previous Public Library Data Service survey in 2019. The Public Library Services for Strong Communities Survey is the third in a set of three new annual topical surveys gathering unique data that complement the annual IMLS Public Libraries Survey (PLS) and state library surveys.
For your convenience, we've included additional text below that could be
shared with public libraries to encourage their participation. Also attached is a copy of the survey worksheet for reference purposes. More information about this survey and past PLA surveys can be found here:www.ala.org/pla/data/plasurveys.
Thank you for your assistance, and we welcome any questions or feedback you might have for us.
Best, Larra
Larra Clark
PLA Deputy Director
------------------------------
Michael Dowling
Director, International Relations
American Library Association
------------------------------
|
Michael Dowling
