Colorado State Library Annual Report

Fiscal Year 2017 Colorado State Library Annual Report

Welcome

I am pleased to present the Colorado State Library’s annual report of activities and programs for the state’s library staff and residents. It is an honor to be part of such a talented and dedicated staff here at the CSL.

We accomplished much in fiscal year 2017, in alignment with our goals of learning for all, serving to the underserved, offering professional development for library staff, and allocation of library resource. Working in partnership with other agencies, we coordinated literacy programs, delivered reading materials to those with reading impairments, helped those in state institutions connect with families through literature, offered free books to four-year olds and State Park backpacks for check out. We made available Colorado’s state agency publications and supported libraries through research, data, job search tools, and so much more. Of course, helping libraries improve their collections through the State Grants to Libraries is always a highlight.

For more information about our State Library services, go to www.ColoradoStateLibrary.org.

- Gene Hainer, Assistant Commissioner

Professional Development

https://create.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/

The Colorado State Library provides workshops, webinars, presentations, consulting, and other continuing education opportunities throughout the year over multiple platforms. Staff from across the State Library have shared their leadership and expertise with local, statewide, and national audiences.

Consultations

30,967

Continuing Education

350 workshops, webinars, presentations, etc.

11,383 participants

What kind of trainings did we offer?

Job Hunting Like a Boss
Futurecasting
Culture of Yes
Share It! Communication Tips to Improve Your Resource Sharing Potential
Learning from Your Patrons: An Introduction to User Research
The Power to Delight: Providing Extraordinary Service

What did participants say about the trainings?

94% increased their knowledge of the topic

96% are likely to apply what they have learned

89% improved their ability to provide services to patrons

Quotes from participants:

I found the presenters to be knowledgeable and very empathetic to the challenges facing public libraries today.

Kids & their learning development is a new learning topic for me. Thank you for making this information easy to digest & implement.

Aspen Institute’s Colorado Dialogue on Public Libraries

http://aspen.cvlsites.org/

On May 25, 2017, the Aspen Institute hosted a dialogue with over 30 Colorado business, government, nonprofit, education, and library leaders to explore the changing role of libraries in a knowledge-based society, and how these highly trusted institutions can build smarter, healthier, and more resilient communities across the state. The report Colorado Rising to the Challenge provides recommendations and identifies 10 opportunities for strengthening library-community partnerships and overall community resilience, and ways in which public libraries and other community organizations can work more effectively together.

Check Out Colorado State Parks

http://cpw.state.co.us/librarybackpack

The Colorado State Library partners with Colorado State Parks and Wildlife and 298 public and college libraries throughout Colorado. With a library card, Coloradans can borrow, for one week, an outdoor backpack with state park pass and educational materials. #CheckOutColorado

2017 By the Numbers

298 partner libraries & average of 165 checkouts per week

97% likely to recommend a visit to a state park

85% "This park experience helped us learn more about nature."

94% changed their view of what libraries have to offer

Quotes from participants:

We used the Colorado state flower guide to find out names of many different flowers.

The pass is wonderful and a great idea for any family unable to afford much of anything such as our family.

I have been city-bound for way too long. I used to visit State Parks often. It has been so long (years) since I have been out in nature. Life has been tough lately, this was an unexpected surprise that filled my heart with joy and hope. Thank you!

When checking in to the park/our campsite, we got to have a really great conversation with the park ranger about new services in libraries and what a great partnership that was.

Growing Readers Together

http://www.coloradostatelibrary.org/growingreaderstogether

Through a grant from the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation, the Colorado State Library (CSL) partners with 15 public libraries in south and eastern Colorado to undertake Growing Readers Together (GRT). This pilot project offers local support to informal Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) childcare providers to increase early literacy activities for children in their care.

2017 By the Numbers

98% of FFN providers strongly agree the early literacy suggestions from librarians were helpful in building literacy experiences for their children.

98% will continue to use the ideas offered through the GRT program when spending time with the children in their care.

Over 94% of FFN providers thought the experiences with GRT were appropriate for the age of the children in their care.

Over 50% reported the literacy building guidance and activities were generally new to them.

FFN providers mentioned the following features as a benefit to participating in GRT:

You learned something you can share with the children in your care (91.3%)
You feel more confident to help the children in your care to learn (88.9%)
You will spend more time interacting with the children in your care (e.g. read, talk, sing, write, play; 91.3%)
You are more aware of available resources and services provided by the library (93.8%)
You will visit the library more often with the children in your care (87.7%)

One Book 4 Colorado

A statewide book give-away for 75,000 four year olds, One Book 4 Colorado involves public libraries throughout Colorado as well as partners with the Governor’s Serve Colorado and other partners and funders throughout the state. #OneBook4Co

2017 By the Numbers

Surveyed library staff agreed or strongly agreed:

98% the book giveaway helped their library promote reading among young children

88% the program provided an opportunity to reach out to other agencies interested in childhood education

76% participating children talked about the book with others

56% now more families view libraries as a resource for books and activities related to childhood reading

54% parents showed an increased awareness of the importance of childhood reading

50% the program brought new families into the library

mother and child reading

Quotes from participants:

Have been loving reading "Mouse Mess" to my daughter this week! Thanks.

Thanks OneBook4Co and JCPL! This 4yo loves her new book and loves reading in general! What a great program. - at Arvada Library

Public Library Leadership

http://www.coloradostatelibrary.org/librarydevelopment/publiclibraries/index

Colorado State Library offers leadership, standards, and professional development for public library directors and trustees. Of the board training, public library directors and trustees surveyed indicated...

2017 By the Numbers

96% rated the training as excellent or above average

71% indicated that they gained new knowledge

60% remarked that the new knowledge will aid them in improving their service to the public

Quotes from participants:

I am amazed at the scope of the presenter’s knowledge and expertise. We came away with our questions answered, and resources available to us.

That was so helpful! I love how well you talk about complex legislative issues/bills in words the rest of us can understand.

School Library Leadership

http://www.coloradostatelibrary.org/librarydevelopment/schoollibraries/index

2017 By the Numbers

The School Library/Digital Literacy Instructional Specialists empower educators to have the teaching skills needed to create meaningful, collaborative, and challenging learning opportunities so that their students can thrive in today’s world. Professional development participants indicated...

96% are likely to share what they learned with others

94% improved their knowledge on the subject

92% are likely to apply what they learned

Quotes from participants:

Loved the way we could look and share on what we wanted. Lots of great new ideas and ideas that can be used!

Engaging and interactive. Presenters (are) energetic and knowledgeable.

Statewide Summer Learning in Libraries

http://www.coloradostatelibrary.org/librarydevelopment/publiclibraries/index

Because some students experience summer slide and summer is a great time for recreational reading, Colorado State Library is a member of a grassroots consortium of states working together to provide high-quality summer reading program materials for children at the lowest cost possible for public libraries. CSL also provides workshops for library staff, an online reading record for small community registration, and a teen video contest.

2017 By the Numbers

76% of survey respondents indicated that the summer reading resources met the library staff needs.

69% indicated that the resources will improve their libraries’ ability to provide services for the public

122 participants in workshops - Comments:

I've been looking more into community partnerships-there were some great ideas offered.

Great ways to bring more community involvement into the library.

I will share the resources with my colleagues so that we can research trends to inspire programs in our library.

Institutional Libraries

This unit ensures quality libraries for over 16,000 Colorado citizens residing in 36 state-funded institutions. Its mission is to provide the leadership and expertise that Colorado’s state institutional libraries need to meaningfully impact the lives of users, their families, and their communities. There is a strong focus on expanding collections and programming that can develop detention and correctional facility residents' pro-social cognition and behavior.

Collections

9,672 titles were purchased in 2017

243,075 items in the library collections

Collections Impact

622,617 books circulated in DOC facilities

5,108,652 hours offenders spent reading

Programs and impact

652 interactive programs provided by CDOC libraries in 2017

23,328 CDOC program contact hours in 2017

Thanks for all your help with the library. I love how it looks and [our volunteer] has already gotten compliments on it!
- Veterans Living Community Activities Director

Read to the Children

A partnership between the State Library/Institutional Library Development and Colorado Department of Corrections Libraries, this program allows parents and other close relatives to record themselves reading a book, then send the recording and book to the child. Read to the Children has led to increased literacy skills of offenders and the children, strengthened family relationships, and developed an interest and enthusiasm for reading in adults and children alike.

2017 By the Numbers

84% of offenders said the program improved their relationship with their child.

92% of offenders say that the program is very important to help them connect to the child.

89% of caregivers say that the program is important or very important to the child.

Direct impact on children's lives

As my only outlet to maintain "normal" routine it’s awesome. I use to read to my kids every night. My kids love the books - my son is at the top of his class in reading.
- CDOC Offender

Read to the Children is the best program going...vital in connecting offenders with their kids!
- CDOC Staff

quote from read to the children caregiver

Library Jobline

Library Jobline is a free service that connects libraries and jobseekers in Colorado and beyond. Over 5,000 jobs have been posted since 2007.

2017 By the Numbers

823,000 emails sent in 2016

556 jobseekers added (total of 4,726)

154 employers added (total of 1,152)

Job posts increased by 2.6% since 2015, up 195% since 2009.

Research Institute for Public Libraries (RIPL)

https://ripl.lrs.org

Launched in 2015 by the Colorado State Library (CSL) and the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC), the Research Institute for Public Libraries (RIPL) is a singular event for public library leaders and others interested in public library data and evaluation. In this immersive, bootcamp-style event, participants learn practical, strategic methods of gathering, analyzing, and using data for planning, management, and communicating impact.

2017 By the Numbers

1 national event and 2 regional events in FY2017.

99% rated RIPL Regionals as "Above Average" to "Excellent"

After participating in a RIPL Regional event, the following are either “Very confident” or “confident” in the following areas:

93% Promote the importance of evaluation in your library

93% Use data for strategic planning

96% Use data for management

97% Use data to communicate with stakeholders (staff, board members, city council, etc.)

Quotes from participants:

Learning about data, collecting info, and communicating results will be very helpful in the future. (Regional)

The hands on approach and interactive activities are a great learning tool. Showed practicality and how it can be applied to our everyday work. (Regional)

Good building blocks for future projects. (Regional)

I can't wait to get back to my library-I am going to create an evaluation plan for our upcoming reading programs and survey my colleagues to develop interoffice processes. (National)

Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC)

https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/

The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) provides free online access to 220+ newspapers published in Colorado from 1859 to 2010 and come from throughout the state Papers in the collection include papers published in English, German, Spanish, or Swedish. CHNC supported by funds managed by the Colorado State Library - and grows through a local fund-raising model with contributions made by local libraries, archives, museums, and other organizations. Newspapers are digitized from microfilm or from the original newspaper.

The project first launched in 2005, and in 2015 it received a face lift by moving to a new platform with new improved capabilities. Since the migration, the service has almost doubled in size, and provides access to more than 1,200,000 digitized pages of historic newspaper content.

In FY17:

Number of pages added: 113,748

New titles added: 4

Increase in content: 21%

Counties represented: 52 out of 64

Colorado Talking Book Library

https://myctbl.cde.state.co.us/

For people who cannot read standard print, the Colorado Talking Book Library provides free audio, braille, and large print books keeping them connected to reading, stories, and adventure. CTBL serves more than 6,500 active individual patrons and 500 organizations and has at least one patron in every county in Colorado.

Circulation

image of a book

780,908 physical items and

75,672 digital downloads.

Or, 115 items in and out, and 11 downloads, for every individual patron!

Patron Outcomes

89% reading books for pleasure image of a book

image of a book 43% learning more about a personal interest

13% staying more connected to community image of a book

With every book you light-up my life with a new adventure.

State Publications

Established in 1980, the Colorado State Publications Library’s mission is to provide Colorado residents with free permanent public access to information produced by state government. The collection of over 140,000 documents includes information produced by state agencies such as budgets, consumer information, legislative reports, and directories.

Use of Digital Publications

300,954

Blog Visits

40,198

Patron Contacts

388,387

State Grants to Libraries

http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/stategrants

In 2017, 316 public, school, academic, and institutional libraries received $2.5 million with each grantee receiving a minimum of $3,500. Nearly all of the grantees used the funds to purchase books and electronic educational resources to update their collection and fill unmet needs of their patrons.

Grant Money

~$2.5M in grants awarded to 316 public, school, and academic libraries.

What did grantees say about the funding?

93% said the funds were "essential" or "important" to updating the library's collection and purchasing materials targeted to fill unmet needs.

81% said the funds were "essential" or "important" to increasing materials circulation.

The State Grant money has clearly made a difference in improving digital literacy among adults in our community.
– Public Library

Students are now excited to read. This grant enabled us to update old material and spark an interest in reading.
– School District

Financials

Where does the money come from?

Where does the money go?

Definitions

Administration: Salaries for CSL administrators.

Donations: Gifts without grant terms.

Electronic Access to Resources and Services: Shared access to electronic resources like databases, audiobooks, and interlibrary loan. Example: Colorado Virtual Library.

Learning For All Ages: Providing financial support for education programs in libraries, serving patrons of all ages.

Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Federal Grant: A federal grant that CSL uses to support the purposes and programs outlined in the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

Pass Through Funds: A federal grant that is awarded to CSL, which CSL then uses to make subawards to other libraries and organizations to carry out the public purpose of the grant program.

Private Grants: Grants from non-governmental sources.

Professional Development: CSL sponsors and conducts professional development programs, workshops, and webinars for librarians and library staff in Colorado and around the United States.

Resource Sharing: Funds that allow CSL to purchase tools and services that are shared across libraries in Colorado.

Services to the Underserved: Support library services and programs geared towards underserved populations (examples: offenders in Colorado state prisons, immigrants and refugees, English language learners, those living below the poverty line).

State Funds: Money allocated to CSL by Colorado's state government.

State Pass-Through Funds: A federal grant that is awarded to CSL, which CSL then uses to make subawards to other libraries and organizations to carry out the public purpose of the grant program.