During November I covered the length (if not the breadth) of Australia delivering IFLA’s Measurement, Evaluating and Demonstrating Impact of Library Services training. It was a delight to spend time discussing how we can better tell our story, and the resources we need to ensure that it is effective. Together we were able to highlight areas for national collaboration to make our case stronger. The one thing that all sessions had in common was enthusiastic colleagues, lots of laughter and hot, steamy weather.
Stop One
Early November and the first stop was Australia’s capital city, Canberra, on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country. The training cohort comprised staff from Libraries ACT (Australian Capital Territory) together with Library Managers from surrounding areas in New South Wales. Participants drew inspiration from each other, and the cross-border pollination provided opportunities for future collaboration. We worked on a two-day program focussing on the five major components.
- Getting Started. Evaluating and demonstrating value and impact of library services
- Community & Needs. Community assessment and needs identification
- Outputs & Performance. Monitoring outputs and measuring performance
- Outcomes & Impact: Outcomes evaluation and impact of library services
- Evidence-based Storytelling: Using data in storytelling to demonstrate impact
The personas developed by the groups early in the program, and the services that were created to meet their needs continued to finesse over the time we were together and some of them may become more than an idea on paper!
Stop Two
Next stop was SWITCH, the annual New South Wales Public Libraries Association’s conference which this year was held at the beautiful coastal city of Coffs Harbour on Gumbaynggirr Country. To complement the conference program I curated a version of the training with a focus on telling stories for advocacy. The participants were a delightful mix of highly experienced and new professionals which resulted in a combination of mentoring and fresh perspectives. They say that practice makes perfect, and we reworked our stories so that they were ready to use back in the workplace.
It was an amazing workshop – a major highlight of SWITCH for me
Stop Three
As November drew to a close I flew to Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory on Larrakia country. Participants were drawn from public and special libraries from centres across the Territory. We were also joined by representative from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) and the diversity of participants really added to the richness of our discussions. From our vantage point high above the city we watched as the tropical storms passed through at the beginning of the wet season.
Without a doubt this was the noisiest group I worked with, and the Northern Territory Police, who were working in an adjacent room, suggested we should practice a bit of ‘sushhh’, a stereotype which only made us laugh louder.
An added bonus of the Darwin visit was the ability to be present at the ALIA Northern Territory Excellence Award Night where the winner was Joanne Scott from Taminmin Community Library. Not only was Jo one of the participants at the IFLA training, in 2023/24 she was my mentee in the ALIA Mentoring Scheme. I felt like a proud mother!
Next Steps
By the 30 November when I caught the ‘red eye’ from Darwin back to Hobart I had worked with 49 LIS colleagues from 27 library services/associations across four states and territories sharing the concept of demonstrating impact. I had travelled 13,703 km, and used most forms of transport. Touching down in Hobart I was both glad to be home and looking forward to the opportunities that await in 2025.
Here’s a quick video recap of November
A Basecamp account has been established for each of the training groups where the resources can be shared and ongoing conversations held.
I will be working with the Queensland Public Libraries Association in March and Public Libraries of New Zealand in April next year. If you’re interested in exploring IFLA’s Measurement, Evaluating and Demonstrating Impact of Library Services Training get in contact with the trainers in your region.
Jan Richards Consulting 