Program Learning Outcome 2 (PLO2)

The mission of any organization is its driving force. If well written, the mission provides purpose and motivation for all actions and decisions related to the organization. This paper I wrote for LIS 656 explains the importance of incorporating the mission into every aspect of the library from collection development, to staff recruitment, and marketing. 

This Action Research Project, completed in LIS 600, focused on the need to improve communication between the library and its patrons. After researching appropriate communication methods, I developed a survey to assess the interest in receiving direct communications. Both library staff and stakeholders indicated that they valued expanding library communications. The positive feedback led to starting a monthly newsletter in 2020. The newsletter continues to provide feedback, as patrons are encouraged to respond with any thoughts or comments each month.

This Spanish & Bilingual collection was created as part of a group project in LIS 610. The demographics of the library's community, along with research about the needs of different segments of the population, are outlined in the User Definition. I chose to develop this collection to introduce materials to serve the often-underrepresented Spanish speaking population. The collection contains a wide variety of formats to be inclusive of different levels of literacy. Research showed that groups struggling with language barriers in the US often lack access to medical professionals and employment assistance, so special care was made to include those topics.

During the library closure due to Covid19 in the spring of 2020, it became extremely difficult to interact with the public, causing a drastic reduction in outreach. This Action Research Project, completed in LIS 600, focused on the need to improve communication between the library and its patrons. The result of the research was the creation of a monthly newsletter, which is sent to the patron email list as well as printed and available at the entrance to the library for a second avenue of communication to improve accessibility.

In addition to the newsletter, I produced a video to share across social media platforms, providing a different method of communication for outreach in a time when physical presence was discouraged, and letting patrons and other stakeholders know about the ongoing services as well as any changes that had been made.