¡Bienvenidos!

Goal 6

Organize and contribute to an informal network of social service agencies that assist new and migrant Latino community members with transitional issues. Create an information portal for communication among and about that network.

Outcome 6.1

Library staff members increase their awareness of social services and agencies serving the Latino community; they develop contacts and connections and share them with other staff, agencies, and the Latino community.

 

Target Audience – Deschutes Public Library staff.

Methods & Tools for Evidence Collection – The methods of assessment for this outcome are observation and review of existing records. The observation component will involve small-scale observation of staff members as they use, contribute to, and share the online resource database for Latino services. The review of existing records requires monitoring of the resource database.

Recommendations for Pilot Assessment – The Outreach Services Manager will draft an observation plan that will involve what to look for, when to look for it, and how to report it in summer 2008. She will also create a rubric for review of the database records. These drafts will be used informally during the creation of and training on the database. Modifications will be made as needed before the collection period begins.

Alternative Methods & Tools – No alternative methods for collecting assessment data about this outcome are identified.

Analysis of Evidence (Data Plan) – The Bilingual Coordinator will collect the observation and interview data for this assessment at on a monthly basis. The Outreach Services Manager will analyze the data and prepare a summary of the results for the project log, staff, and Board updates.

How Assessors Will Know the Outcome Has Been Met – This outcome will be met if library staff members increase their recommendation of appropriate Latino service agencies when asked questions about transitional or community services. The resources database will also be an indicator of the achievement of this outcome. Quantitative targets should not be set (e.g., “will add one resource per month”) because the community has a small, fixed number of community agencies. However, attention to the database, regular maintenance of records, and regular use can point to ongoing networking between staff and community members.

Result Scenarios & Decision Making Indicators – Since the community does have a small, fixed number of Latino services and agencies, it is difficult to make a prediction about this outcome.

Recommendations for Reporting – The assessment data will be reported in narrative and chart/graph form; it will be entered into the project log and given to staff and Library Board members in the program updates.

Responsible Parties – Josephine Caisse, Outreach Services Manager, and the Bilingual Coordinator will be responsible for the planning, deployment, analysis, and reporting of the assessment.

Timeline – Assessment data will be collected, compiled, and analyzed monthly from October 2008 to October 2009.

Outcome 6.2

Latino library users bring new Latino community members to the library for basic help with transitional questions and issues.

 

Target Audience – Latino Deschutes County Library users

Methods & Tools for Evidence Collection – The methods for this assessment are a review of existing records and interviews. The records tool is a tracking sheet for information and reference desk staff members. The interviews are unstructured, casual conversations between the Bilingual Coordinator or other staff and regular Latino library users.

Recommendations for Pilot Assessment – The DPL Outreach Services Manager will spend approximately one hour each on two Saturday afternoons working with the front-line staff, modeling tracking sheet use, and addressing implementation concerns. The interview questions, while not formal, should be somewhat standardized. A simple format can be developed during summer 2008.

Alternative Methods & Tools – A simple survey could be substituted for the tracking sheet, if desired.

Analysis of Evidence (Data Plan) – The analysis of this outcome evidence will be numeric and narrative in nature and will be compiled monthly by the Outreach Services Manager. It will consist not only of the numbers of questions and users asking them, but also of anecdotes about specific requests for information or introductions of new community members.

How Assessors Will Know the Outcome Has Been Met – For the first assessment year, this outcome will be met if there is at least one question per two-month period asked of the library staff by new residents or their friends and family. Once this baseline data is collected, the library may choose to set more substantial targets in following years.

Result Scenarios & Decision Making Indicators – Because of the low threshold for the first year, I predict that this outcome will be met and no additional decisions will need to be made based on the indicators.

Recommendations for Reporting – A running tally of Latino resource requests/introductions by month will be kept in the project log. A chart of the data will be included in regular staff and Board updates on the project. A narrative highlight of unique stories or visits will supplement the statistical data.

Responsible Parties – Josephine Caisse, Outreach Services Manager, will be responsible for the planning, deployment, analysis, and reporting of the assessment. She will be assisted by the Bilingual Coordinator. Front-line staff will be responsible for the data collection.

Timeline – Assessment data will be collected, compiled, and analyzed monthly from October 2008 to October 2009.