Blog - Qualitymetrics LLC

Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Public Libraries, Public Relations, Training, At January 21, 2021,

Cross Cultural Communicators in Libraries

The Hispanic population in the United States has reached nearly 58 million in 2016, 18% of the nation’s population and was the second-largest racial or ethnic group. They are drawn from an increasingly diverse mix of countries; 63.2% Mexican origin, 9.5% Puerto Rican, 3.8% Salvadoran, 3.9% Cuban, 3.3% Dominican and 2.5% Guatemalan. In 2015, more than 37 million Latinos ages 5 and older in the U.S. speak Spanish at home, making it the country’s most common non-English language. This project addressed a significant challenge faced by front-line librarians and library support staff in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual society we live in. How do we communicate with and provide desired services to our communities when substantial portions of our residents do not speak English? How do we develop engagements that are culturally responsive and effective? This two-year project developed and delivered online modules and in-person training for 350 Spanish speaking bilingual library professionals in New Jersey, Queens, New York, Connecticut and California. The project ultimately aimed to strengthen public libraries in meeting the needs of its Spanish-speaking communities by means of training bilingual front-line librarians and library support staff to communicate effectively with non-English speaking patrons. Through a multi-faceted collaboration supported by an IMLS grant and led by the New Jersey State Library we worked with the Hartford Public Library, the Queens Public Library, Infopeople, califa, Reforma, Language Link and ALA to develop training for libraries in public libraries virtually and in person. We saw public library colleagues develop confidence and skills in translation and interpretation that will stay with them for years to come!

Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Community Engagement, Design thinking, Marketing, News, At December 31, 2020,

Making a difference in 2020

2020 was the year COVID-19 happened. We regret the loss of life we witnessed and we honor those who are not with us any more. As we reflect on the year past, the moment our lives changed due to COVID-19 comes to mind. In March, as I was ready to fly to Fairbanks, Alaska, I receive a phone call to cancel the trip. We were fortunate that we were able to continue our work. Our work continued virtually for the rest of the year and we continued to do great work with libraries working virtually. We have enjoyed working all the way from the US Virgin Islands to Alaska, from the tropics to the arctic zone. I learned that there are more than three time zones in the US and that the exception is not only Hawaii. Did you know that the US Virgin Islands are on the Atlantic Time Zone for part of the year? They wake up an hour earlier and they do not change to daylight savings time. Did you know that Alaska consolidated to two time zones – Alaska Time and Hawaii-Aleutian Time – in 1983 to put the state capitol, Juneau, on the same time zone as the more populated Anchorage and Fairbanks (and to make doing business with companies in the Lower 48 states a little easier)? Did you know that about 100,000 people live in three different islands in the US Virgin Islands? St Thomas, St Croix, and St John. Did you know that about a million people live in the state of Alaska that is about 1/5 the size of the continental US? Flying over Alaska is as if you fly over a sea of trees. Our work continues in Fairbanks as we keep looking for the aurora of libraries. We wish you find your own aurora in the new year; you find happiness; and you find prosperity! Here’s where you can find the forecast for the aurora . This is the most heavily used page at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks! Stay healthy! Stay safe! Stay sane!

Martha Kyrillidou , Posted in Academic Libraries, Community College, Community Engagement, Design thinking, Facilities planning, At December 31, 2020,

Exciting award winning collaborations

Chabot College Library and Learning Connection rendering from our partners featured here — we are truly excited that this project has been recognized! Great work everyone! Congratulations to our lead architect Group 4 Architecture Research + Planning! The year saw us working with partner architects in California to conceptualize new library buildings for two community college libraries, Chabot College and the College of Marin. Our Chabot College Library and Learning Connection project has won an Award of Excellence from the Community College Facility Coalition! We enjoyed our collaboration with Group 4 Architecture Research + Planning, Inc. and with HMC Architects, SWA Group, and brightspot strategy. Our sincere thanks to the students, staff, and faculty of Chabot College on this important project. Looking forward to continuing to make a difference for libraries in 2021!

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, At January 8, 2020,

Geisel Library whimsical design — one of the nicest libraries in the world (UCSD)

Geisel Library is the main library building of the University of California San Diego Library. It is named in honor of Audrey and Theodor Seuss Geisel. Theodor is better known as children’s author Dr. Seuss. Its design is whimsical and fascinating! If you visit, make sure to visit the floor with the view of the serpent on the grounds!

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

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.