Introducing Benchmark: Library Metrics and Trends

Instructors

Linda Hofschire directs the Research Institute for Public Libraries (RIPL), serves as the instructional designer for Embedding Evaluation in Libraries, and is the training coordinator for Infopeople, the education and training arm of the Califa Group. Hofschire serves as the chair of PLA’s Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment Committee.

Melanie Huggins is PLA president and executive director of the Richland Library in Columbia, SC, which received the 2017 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor. Huggins was named a 2018 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands for her lasting impact in the community, and was named a 2018 Woman of Influence by Columbia Regional Business Report. In 2018, she was the first woman to win the Stephen G. Morrison Visionary Award from One Columbia for Arts and History. She has been included on Columbia Business Monthly’s list of the Fifty Most Influential People for the past three years and was recently selected as an entrant to the Hall of Fame. Her work is influenced by her belief that libraries are uniquely positioned to make communities more livable, resilient, and inclusive.

Katina Jones is the statistical research analyst at Mid-Continent Public Library (MCPL), headquartered in Independence, MO. She assists library administration and staff in making data-driven decisions through her analysis of library data, community demographics, and program survey results from the library’s thirty-six locations serving Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties in Missouri. Prior to MCPL, she was the state data coordinator at the Missouri State Library, working with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the U.S. Census Bureau to collect and distribute statistics for the state. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology and Social Science from Alverno College, Jones started her career as the program evaluator for Families and Schools Together (FAST)—the now internationally utilized family engagement program. Jones is a member of PLA’s Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment Committee, and was an instructor and facilitator at the Research Institute for Public Libraries (RIPL) in 2018 and 2020.

Tommy Hamby worked for the Salt Lake City Public Library for seventeen years and served as the first data coordinator for the system. He has held positions in public service, circulation, administration, and public programming. He earned his masters of Public Administration from the University of Utah as well as a certificate in data analytics. Hamby became interested in data in his role as adult services coordinator, when he was trying to develop meaningful and relevant programs tailored to the unique communities served by the eight branches of the system. As data coordinator, he worked with staff and administrators to identify the library’s inputs, outputs, and outcomes, and how they were interrelated and could be harnessed to inspire planning and decision making. Hamby was a member of PLA’s Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment Committee and has been working with PLA since October 2020 to help design and launch Benchmark.

Sara Goek is program manager at PLA. She is responsible for supporting PLA’s data and research efforts and developing related training content.