Staff Assessments

Before starting staff training, we wanted to assess staff knowledge on the topic of media mentorship in libraries. We briefly assessed three areas:

· Staff's feelings on media use with young children and their families,

· their own comfort with using new media, and

· where they felt they needed more training.

Beginning with a needs assessment allows the library to gauge the understanding, comfort and skills of the staff. It provides a more complete picture of strengths, as well as gaps in comfort and staff knowledge by providing a baseline to develop media mentors. Sending out a survey tool communicates to staff that their input is valued, and that action will be an outcome. It sets the stage for meaningful professional development and organizational change.

At the six-month stage of our project, we used a post-assessment survey to gauge the understanding, comfort and skills of the staff. Periodically re-assessing the progress of the staff allows for continuous improvement and fine tuning of the initiative.

Assessments may be administered digitally or in hard-copy. We, however, administered them digitally via Survey Monkey. Alter either survey to suit your library's need.