CREATING SUCCESSFUL
ADULT PROGRAMS
Brett W. Lear
Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Welcome!
Brett W. Lear
Library Director
Martin County (FL) Library System
blear@martin.fl.us
772 221-1410

• Creating goals for event
Agenda
planning that link your events
to the needs of your
community
• Developing outcome
measures to ensure that your
events are a good fit for your
community
• Sharing your successes with
elected officials, residents,
and other stakeholders

Vision, Mission, and Priorities

Adult Events: Essential Library Services?
―Programming is a process by which the
informational, educational, and recreational needs of your
patrons are met by bringing patrons into contact with the
human resources best able to meet those needs.‖
from Adult Programs in the Library

Our vision is to inform and inspire every
resident in Martin County.
• Our mission is to
connect with people
and create learning
opportunities that
improve communities.

Facilitate lifelong learning
The Library serves a leading role in the community as both
a source of information and a place of learning. The need
for learning begins at birth and the pursuit of knowledge
continues throughout life.
from Martin County (FL) Library System’s Long Range Services Plan

Goal 1: Establish the Library as the first source for practical
information on common life experiences and challenges such
as parenting, education, health, financial stability, and aging.
Objectives:
1. Conduct a community scan to determine what
knowledge, skills, and abilities our residents want to attain.
2. Provide educational workshops, information, and materials
that help our residents increase their knowledge and improve
their skills in identified areas.
3. Develop an annual, system-wide calendar of events that
emphasizes lifelong learning opportunities.
4. Seek partners and identify funders that support lifelong
learning initiatives.

What are your goals?

What types of events?
• Participatory or passive?
• Entertainment or educational?
• Strive for community engagement?
• What works in your community?

Making, creating, volunteering
Library Laboratory was a series of art,
technology, and engineering workshops for
adults. Offered in collaboration with the
Science Museum of Minnesota’s Learning
Technologies Center the workshops included
Misfit Toys for Adults (deconstructing and
rebuilding unwanted and noisy moving toys),
Sensitive Machines (building a machine that
responds to light and sound sensors),
Glowing Clothing (LED embedded clothing
and shoes), Shadow Puppet Animation
(created with stop motion animation), and
Folded Structures (re-creating crystal or sea
shell structures that are sometimes used by
architects).
"Interactive Programs at Hennepin County Library,"Johannah Genett, Programming Librarian,
January 17, 2012.

Read and discuss Life Is So Good by
George Dawson and Richard Glaubman.
Dawson, a black manual laborer who
learned to read at age 98, wrote a memoir
that is essential to an accurate
understanding of this century. The product
of a collaboration between Dawson and
high school history teacher Glaubman, the
book juxtaposes significant events of the
century with Dawson's personal
experiences.
Engage in a service project at The Title
Wave Used Bookstore. Hear a short
presentation about the library's adult
literacy programs, then help prepare
retired library materials to be sold at the
bookstore. Volunteers will stamp, sort and
shelve books, CDs, DVDs and other
library material.
-- Multnomah County (OR) Library

Homeschool Fair

A hogbutchering demonstration at the Overland
Park, Kan., library in November. John Helling/Johnson
County Library

Passive events & DIY
Photo by David Woolley, Director, Manitou Springs
Seed Library
Photo by Ruth Crocker, Marketing
Coordinator at St. Thomas Public Library,
Ontario

WHAT’S WORKED WELL
FOR YOU?
(Time to brag!)

What events are right for your
community?
Scanning the community
Engaging with residents

Why do people attend my library’s
events?
How can I learn more
about the values,
habits, and lifestyles of
my community
members?

Where to start?
• Scan past event evaluation forms
• Look for recent patron surveys
• Check state and national library data
• Statistical Report from the Public Library Data Service
(www.ala.org/pla/publications/plds)
• The Public Libraries Survey
(www.imls.gov/research/public_libraries_in_the_united_states_surv
ey.aspx)

Where else to explore?
• Work with your partners—
schools, chambers of
commerce, newspapers, a
nd mission-driven
organizations
• Search for surveys
conducted by nearby
libraries and national
associations
• Programs for Adults in
Public Library Outlets and
Cultural Programs for
Adults in Public Libraries: A
Survey Report

Partners

Online tools
• Demographic data
• American Factfinder (factfinder2.census.gov)
• ERsys (ERsys.com)
• Subscription services with demographic information and
consumer data
• DemographicsNow (www.demographicsnow.com)
• CIVICTechnologies (www.civictechnologies.com)
• SImplyMap by Geographic Research, Inc.
(geographicresearch.com/simplymap)

Blue Sky Boomers
The largest cluster contains lower-middle and middle class
households from the baby-boom generation. This
group, aged 50-65, makes up 31.3% of households in the
County. They live casually and comfortably as price
sensitive, outdoorsy, empty nesters. Spending their free
time fishing, boating, and gardening, or watching
television, reading books, newspapers, or
magazines, these Boomers tend to view their entire world
as a grand library. Whether via a personal
connection, news article, website, or billboard, these
individuals seek information that can improve their lives as
well as the lives of their friends and family.

Develop a community profile
You can develop a profile of your community using the following questions
as guidelines. Include any additional information you think is pertinent.
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What are the major businesses or industries?
What dominant groups make the population?
What are the ages and characteristics of the population?
What leisure time activities are available?
What is the general education level of the population?
What economic, social, or political trends are presently affecting people
in your town?
What is the town's relation to other communities in the state?
What is the historical background?
What are the present economic conditions?
What are the major cultural and religious influences?
Source: Peggy O'Donnell and Patsy Read, Planning Library Programs
(Chicago: Public Library Association, 1979), 12.

How to engage with your residents?
• Design and conduct surveys.
• Talk to people entering and exiting events.
• ―What did you think?‖
• ―What would you like to see next?‖
• Host community conversations about the library.
• ―Coffee with the Director‖
• Invite community leaders into library to talk with staff
about their neighborhoods, associations, and cultures.

Conduct a survey
Programming Survey
If we were to begin offering adult programs, which type of program would you be most likely to
attend? Please select one of the following:
A monthly book discussion group
A film series covering a theme, such as ―Great Silent Classics‖ or ―Film Noir‖
A ―how to‖ program, such as ―How to Select a Home Computer‖ or ―How to Travel
Cheap in Europe‖
A speaker sharing his or her knowledge with the audience; for example, a Holocaust
survivor recounting her experiences at Auschwitz
Workshops or classes that explain how to use library resources, such as the Internet
and downloadable ebooks
I do not have an interest in attending library programs for adults
Comments:

Postcard survey

Online survey

Getting to know your community
• Tools?
• Conversations?
• Other approaches?

Measuring the value of your events
• Outcome and output
measures:
• verify that your events
are successful
• increase the likelihood
of generating grant or
private funding for future
events

Outcomes

The Free Library of
Philadelphia will lead
the City to economic
recovery and ongoing
prosperity … and be
recognized for it.

Libraries connect people to jobs and careers, serving as the vehicle for 979
Philadelphians finding jobs, resulting in $30 million in wages in one year and
generating $1.2 million annually in city wage tax.
Libraries grow businesses, with 8,630 businesses starting or improving
because of help received at the Free Library.
Libraries enrich neighborhoods, creating $698 million in home values and
generating $18.5 million annually in property tax revenue for the city.
979 Philadelphians found jobs directly as a result of the resources provided
by the Library.
979 entry-level jobs translate into $30.4 million in wages income in one year,
generating $1.2 million in wage tax revenue for the city.
8,630 businesses started or grew directly as a result of services provided by
the Free Library.

Economic value of workforce
development
The economic value of the Library services that help
Philadelphians locate job opportunities and develop career
skills totals $6 million for FY10, comprised of:
• $2.2 million in career development book-reading &
lending
• $2.1 million in job-finding online activities, including
workforce database usage and online job searching/prep
• $1.7 million job-readiness and workforce-related
programming

Outcome: Based on the Martin County Library System’s annual
survey, 75% of the respondents will indicate that the Library’s
cultural events improve the quality of life in Martin County.
Outcome: Based on the Martin County Library System’s annual
survey, 75% of the respondents will indicate that the Library
plays an essential role in achieving their personal goals.
Outcome: Based on the Martin County Library System’s annual
survey, 75% of the respondents will indicate that the Library
improves the economic well being of Martin County.
Output: 50% of our adult events and classes will focus on
assisting adults with improving their literacy skills, meeting their
personal goals, and fulfilling their responsibilities as parents,
students, citizens, and workers.

Return on
Investment

How to gather data & generate
outcomes?
• Evaluation forms
• Comment cards
• Comparative and relational stats
• Surveys
• Follow-up

Audience
Evaluation

Ask the right questions
• Do you feel more connected to your community as a
result of attending Library events?
• Since attending family reading time, are you reading more
with your child?
• The Library's cultural events improve the quality of life in
Martin County. --Agree –Disagree

SurveyMonkey
Community value

Follow up
• Phone, email, SurveyMonkey, or an event
management tool (by Plymouth Rocket,
Evanced Solutions, etc.)
• Since attending the library workshop on...
• Did you receive your GED?
• Have you passed your citizenship test?
• Have you found employment?

Impact Survey
(impactsurvey.org)
U.S. IMPACT Studies: Web Survey Results: Seattle Public Library February, 2010

Outcomes & community impact
Berkeley Public Library: Survey Results: July, 2012

Comparative & relational stats
Civility training for
Road rage down by
874
40%
residents

Telling your story

Return on
Investment
• Deborah Lopez, Indiantown
mother
• $1,298 in library services
• Katie Fischer, Stuart
mother
• $816 in library services

But numbers don’t tell the whole story
Iliana’s story
http://chirb.it/kdMzfN

Tristan: Perfect score on Florida's
Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT)!
His mother attributes his
academic success to
library events and
classes that have
inspired him to read
more

Stories of Impact
"The Library is much more than a
repository for books, it’s a center for
life-long education, shared enrichment
and cultural experiences and
information that is often necessary to
me and others. It’s simply a place
where I can give back to my
community and us young ones can
come together and create a shared
sense of community."
--Gregory Lucenay, Hartford Public
Library Volunteer
http://www.hplct.org/support/stories-ofimpact

Post-event press releases

WHAT’S YOUR STORY
OF IMPACT?
(Please share.)

Questions and conversation

Thank you!
Brett W. Lear
Library Director
Martin County (FL) Library System
blear@martin.fl.us
772 221-1410