Blog

Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Academic Libraries, Design thinking, Facilities planning, At September 29, 2020,

How many seats do you need in your library?

How many seats do you need in your library? A tough question as the purpose of libraries evolves and use changes while planning standards become outdated and benchmarking data are scarce. Learn a new and better way to answer this question in this 2018 Library Assessment Conference article which is also a post by Elliott Felix of brightspot strategy and Martha Kyrillidou of QualityMetrics https://lnkd.in/dXy4acN #libraries #planning #highered #assessment QualityMetrics LLC brightspot strategy  We are always excited to be doing more space planning for libraries! Glad to see this piece also picked up by bluesyemre – the blog maintained by Emre Hasan Akbayrak.  Really excited to continue to impact libraries all over the world even when not able to travel due to COVID-19!
Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in LSTA Evaluations, News, State Library Agencies, At September 29, 2020,

State Library Administrative Agency Trends — IMLS report available!

The latest results from the IMLS’s biennial State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAA) Survey are available in the 2018 SLAA report. This report categorizes the SLAAs by administrative structure and highlights trends in SLAA revenues, expenditures, staffing, and services from FY 2006 through FY 2018. The findings show that despite decreases in revenue and staffing, SLAAs have continued to provide valuable services and support for libraries in their states; in FY 2018, 71% of SLAAs provided literacy support, 96% offered consulting services, and 82% led statewide reading programs—up from 69% in FY 2014! QualityMetrics has enjoyed helping SLAAs with assessment and planning in the past, and we look forward to working with many more in the future! We are proud of continuing to review IMLS publication through our work at the Library Statistics Working Group (LSWG)!
Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Academic Libraries, Facilities planning, At January 8, 2020,

Anderson School of Management Facilities Assessment at UCLA

One of the places I had the pleasure to visit this past year was the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as part of a comprehensive library study.  These studies include a review of all the facilities and an evaluation of whether they are study spaces or spaces devoted to research; collections are also considered in the mix with a focus on understanding the shelving devoted to monographs vs serials, the latter being more useful to researchers in research libraries.  These comprehensive studies also include a study of the electronic collections as well but the facilities assessments are so much fun especially when visiting newly renovated buildings like the business library at UCLA!
Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Facilities planning, Public Libraries, At December 31, 2019,

Front Page News for Noel Wien Public Library

Daily News Miner QualityMetrics
What a nice way to end the year in 2019! Remodeling library for the 21st century is the title of the front page newspaper article for the Noel Wien Public Library renovation plan QualityMetrics completed this past year.  It is a wonderful closure to 2019 to make it on the front page of the paper on December 30 as the year closes and read through the summary of our work in the wonderful place called Fairbanks, Alaska! The badly needed renovation will be a life-changing experience for the 100,000 residents of this northern most spot where commercial airlines fly!
Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Academic Libraries, Community assessment, Community Engagement, Design thinking, Facilities planning, Public Libraries, Space assessment, Training, At December 31, 2019,

Remodeling library for the 21st century – a fabulous ending to 2019!

We worked over a six month period in Fairbanks and got to know the city by travelling there, talking to many people in the community about their needs and wants for the library, and working with our amazing librarian colleagues.  We summarized our findings in 125-pages which includes additional links to substantial appendices as well. Did you know that Alaska is five hours behind the east coast time zone? And, how do you think it feels to live in a place where 24 hours is light in the summer and almost as many hours is dark in the winter?  Did you know that traveling to Alaska in the winter is a big attraction for Asian tourists who are captured by the aurora borealis views? Did you even know that pictures of my dad’s village and family members from Galanovrisi are found on the walls of the Greek restaurant, Bobby’s downtown, in Fairbanks? My future plan includes a trip to Alaska during the winter season to experience the aurora borealis light! And, if you are not sure where Santa lives – Finland? Canada? Alaska?  One of Santa’s homes is North Pole, Alaska! Working on new building designs and library renovations is an exciting area for QualityMetrics.  We have studied library facilities in the past and made meaningful contributions in understanding the impact library spaces on communities.  Our recent research and assessment is moving us at the heart of infrastructure projects making a difference on the ground for every community we work with!  We deal with both the organizational and planning challenges and we can provide recommendations on adjacencies and design choices collaborating with our architectural firm partners. This past year we partnered with G4/HMC/brightspot/QualityMetrics for the planning and program delivery for the new building Chabot College in CA is designing. We are continuing to partner with these colleagues for yet another new building in another community college in CA this year!  We are truly excited to be making a difference at one of the largest higher education institutions in the world.  The California Community Colleges serve 2.1 million students and represent one of the largest student bodies. Community colleges serve important roles in providing job skills, supporting recreational interests, and providing an affordable gateway to four year college degrees. Supporting modern library services in these environments is critical — the community members are often first generation students with limited access to resources; discovering that library resources and services are readily available to them is a life-changing experience! We also offered our popular NISO webinar series again this year featuring 8 webinars on Assessment Practices and Metrics for the 21st Century: A 2019 NISO Training Series. Two of the webinars focused on space planning (slides for all of them available on the NISO website). The other six webinars focusing respectively on collections, services, and strategic innovations! Thanks for our colleague presenters who contributed to this series: Elliot Felix, Pedro Reynoso, Galadriel Chilton, Trevor Dawes, Erin Daix, Joe Zucca, Heidi Nance, Lisa Hinchliffe, Clara Chu, and Merinda Kaye Hensley! As we close the decade, I reflect on where I were ten years ago – finishing my dissertation in 2009 on LibQUAL+, a survey that has been used by more than 1,400 libraries across the globe and spearheaded many badly needed renovations and infrastructure projects for libraries by benchmarking the Library As Place. We opened our thinking to welcoming the voices of the library users in shaping our environments. Establishing QualityMetrics in 2016 allowed me to work more closely with libraries and make an impact with our library consulting services for four years now.  Seeing the impact of our work on the ground is gratifying! We have more exciting things coming in 2020! QualityMetrics is committed to continuing to help libraries improve their spaces, their services, their collections, and maximize the impact of the efforts our library colleagues are making day in and day out!  Libraries transform communities and QualityMetrics transforms Libraries in service to their communities by listening, engaging, sharing, and co-creating! QualityMetrics is looking forward to working with many of you in the coming year!
Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Academic Libraries, Collection assessment, Public Libraries, School libraries, At April 18, 2019,

Collection Assessment in a Multi-Type Environment: Marion County Internet Library

Marion County Internet Library (MCIL) is a Grant-Supported Collection of Databases of Electronic Resources.  A partnership of academic, public, and school libraries I got to work with this past year.  How often do you see different types of libraries coming together?  Not very often.  I think it’s worth questioning whether the way we have organized our professional organizations makes sense in today’s environment.  MCIL was established in 1998 and funded through the Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF). The Library Fund was established by an anonymous donor for the sole benefit of designated public, academic, and high school libraries in Marion County. Currently, these designated partners include more than 40 public, private, charter, and state high schools serving Marion County; the libraries of IUPUI, University of Indianapolis, and Marian University; as well as the Indianapolis Public Library (IndyPL) and all of its branches. At the current annual cost of approximately $540,000, MCIL provides free access to an expanded scope of online database resources in the Marion County that are not otherwise available. MCIL is available to any Indianapolis Public Library cardholder and is also accessible from home or anywhere off campus. These Internet-accessible online resources include newspaper, journal, and magazine articles; information from standard library reference sources; and collections of resources designed to enhance student learning and achievement.  Assessing collections in such a diverse environment was insightful and rewarding!  I hope we can see more libraries moving towards multi-type collaborations of this nature and more funders supporting such synergies.
Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Community Engagement, News, Space assessment, Training, At December 22, 2018,

A is for Assessment: Free Resources for Advancing Libraries in the 21st Century

Open access resources for advancing libraries in the 21st century: For 2019, we promise to continue to bring together the best thinking in research, design and marketing to advance libraries in the 21st century!
Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Community Engagement, Design thinking, Space assessment, At October 3, 2018,

Three free online courses: create smart library spaces

Three free online courses are now available to everyone who is interested in creating smart library spaces through OCLC/Web Junction and QualityMetrics is available to join you in all related evaluation and assessment activities: 1. Active Learning and Community Discovery introduces the concepts of active learning and place making, and the tools and process for community discovery. 2. From Discovery to Design builds on the results of the community discovery process, adapting design thinking approaches to arrive at an actionable idea and a space ready for transformation. 3. Action Planning and Implementation takes the planning through the steps of making the space and service transformation happen.
Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Community Engagement, Design thinking, Space assessment, At October 3, 2018,

What’s a smart library space?

Space assessment is a growing area as print book real estate is shrinking and innovative approaches to learning and library programming are taking its place! OCLC/Webjunction developed useful resources grounded in the reality of fifteen small and rural libraries who participated in the IMLS funded project we evaluated, Small Libraries Create Smart Spaces.  QualityMetrics worked with fifteen small and rural libraries to develop outcomes assessment for their new spaces and programs and it was an insightful and rewarding experience.
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