Community Needs Assessment, Outcomes, and You!

Engagement & Program Services (EPS) and Engagement Managers across the system have worked on compiling the needs of our community through a Community Needs Assessment (CNA). The CNA framework outlines categories ranging from demographics to transportation.

What can you do?

Read over the information in this post
Review the Key Findings [1] and for more detailed information view the Community Needs Assessment [2]
View the Outcomes [3] & see the outcome statement evolution [3]
Share your thoughts with the survey located in your email.

What is a Community Needs Assessment?

A community needs assessment helps us better understand the needs of Oklahoma County and what role the library should play to meet those needs. We used data from the U.S. Census, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor, and many other resources to compile this report.

Why we took this approach?

Outcome-Based Planning & Evaluation (OPBE) is a library industry standard. It will help us create a data-driven way to plan programs and services based on community needs.

Who was involved in the process

The EPS department (Kellie Delaney, Jessica Gonzalez, Teresa Matthews, Julia McConnell, Emily Williams, and Kristin Williamson); Regional Director Melody Kellogg; Engagement Managers Molly Giles (AL), Annie Emmons (BI), Edie Daniel (BE), Shanna Allen and Dana Beach (CL), Meaghan Hunt (DC), Judie Matthews and Abigail Stout (DN), Natalie Currie and Anne Hall (ED), Jerod Gerfen and George Tocco (MC), Rondia Banks and Heather Kitchen (NW), Liz Caplan (RE), Sydney Ashby and Ruth Smith (SO), Ngoc Nguyen (VI); Library Manager Barbara Beasley (WA); Morgan Jones and Jennifer Livingston (PLA); and front-line staff Allie Barton (BI), Kelly Dalrymple (BI), Katherine Hickey (BI), Lindsay Jones (BI), Julianna Link (BI), Sarah Brown (DN), Kathryn Goldbach (DN), Gatlin Sullivan (DN), Samuel Karns (ED), and Darrie Breathwit (SO).

In total 39 staff members contributed to the document.

Timeline

May 11 – Cabinets complete data gathering
May 25 – EPS finalizes draft assessment
May 30 – EPS and PLA meet to review assessment
June 12 – EPS completes second review and prepares key findings for Regional Directors
June 14 – Presentation to Library Managers
June 15 – EPS and PLA meet to discuss key findings and develop a framework for moving forward
June 21 – Presentation to MLS Commission
June 18-22 – EPS drafts outcome statements focused on priority areas
June 27-28 – EPS and PLA meet with Engagement Managers to seek feedback
July 5-10 – Feedback opportunities for staff
July 11 – Presentation to Leadership Team
July 12 – Presentation of Outcomes to Library Managers
July 19 – Presentation to MLS Commission

What’s next?

Finalizing our outcome statements is the first in a series of steps that will include:

defining immediate learning outcomes that support these broad outcomes;
creating a framework for proposing program ideas, refining program concepts, and approving programs for implementation (both systemwide and locally); and
developing tools for delivering programs that meet program standards.

Upon receiving approval of the priority areas and outcome statements at the July Commission meeting, we will be forming workgroups to be led by the Programs Managers (Jessica, Teresa, and Julia) and comprised of Engagement Managers and frontline staff. They will be tasked with evaluating systemwide needs in each of the six priority areas (Literacy, Educational Attainment, Workforce Development, Health and Wellness, Cultural Enrichment, and Civic Engagement) -- using your feedback from the staff survey that goes live today-- and creating a proposal for how to move forward.

Following their work, we will create project teams led by Engagement Managers and comprised of frontline engagement staff to develop the actual programs.

A Very Short History of EPS

In November of 2017, the EPS steering committee began meeting. At that time there were only two people in the department, Teen Services Manager Emily Williams and Children’s Services Manager Kristin Williamson, led by Regional Director Melody Kellogg. The three Engagement Manager II's in the system-- Jessica Gonzalez (SO), Teresa Matthews (DN), and Julia McConnell (ED) -- were asked to join the steering committee to help decide what engagement services and programming would look like going forward. In January of 2018, Kellie Delaney joined the EPS department as the Adult Services Manager. In April, Jessica, Teresa, and Julia joined EPS as Programs Managers. In June, Margo Engelmann joined in EPS as the Administrative Specialist.

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