Evolving Staff Roles, Policies, and Practices: Results from PLA's 2024 Annual Survey

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Learn how to use the results from the 2024 Public Library Staff Survey to improve your library’s performance, demonstrate value, and increase impact in your community.

Participate in this free webinar to learn about the results from the 2024 Public Library Staff Survey. These results include key information on library staff roles and representation, hiring and retention practices, and library goals and activities aimed at creating a welcoming environment for staff and community members of all backgrounds and abilities. The powerful, actionable evidence from the Staff Survey supports planning and advocacy at the local, state, and national level. Presenters will share how your library can use the survey report and PLA’s data tools to understand and improve your library’s performance, demonstrate value, and increase impact in your community.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Identify current trends in public library staffing, hiring and retention practices, and accessibility accommodations;
• Explore survey results and Benchmark visualizations to develop local potential next steps; and
• Understand how their library can participate in the 2025 topical survey addressing library programs and services.

Who Should Attend

This free webinar is relevant to public library directors, administrators, and staff and data managers. However, staff from any level within their organizations are welcome to attend to learn more about PLA surveys and advocacy.

Presenters:

• Laurie Covington (she/her) is deputy assistant director of statistics and business intelligence at the Houston (TX) Public Library, where she oversees statistics, grants, volunteers, hiring, and training. She is one of the co-chairs of PLA’s Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment Advisory Group and has served in the group since 2021.
• Sara S. Goek, PhD, (she/her) is project manager, data and research with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Public Library Association (PLA), divisions of the American Library Association. She supports data-related initiatives, including the annual surveys, Benchmark, and Project Outcome. Sara holds a PhD in History/Digital Arts and Humanities from University College Cork.
• Katina Jones (she/her) is the program manager for evaluation and assessment at PLA. She supports PLA's data tools, annual topical surveys, and other data and evaluation work. Katina started her library career working as the state data coordinator at the Missouri State Library, followed by nearly nine years as the data analyst at one of that state's largest suburban public libraries.

Training Provider for this Event: ALA