City of Madison (Madison Public Library)

Madison Public Library is partnering with Skokie Public Library and Waupaca Public Library to pilot a librarian’s toolkit for digitally collecting, organizing, and analyzing qualitative, observational data to better measure the impact of hands-on, creative programming for all ages for libraries of varying sizes and capacities to create a model to disseminate these tools nationwide. The project will result in a framework for consistent cycles of observation and reflection to improve or expand the impact of how libraries are able to support learning through hands-on experiential programs. The comprehensive development plan will additionally investigate practitioners’ goals and the outcomes they are seeking to measure, ease of use, feasibility of observation, and capacity for analysis. The Public Library Association and Maker Ed will help disseminate the findings and toolkit.