NCompass Live - June 18, 2014. http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ncompasslive/ After two years in development, the Edge Initiative launched earlier this year and library leaders are already sharing how Edge has helped them connect with their local government officials, build community partnerships and align their strategic goals with community priorities. Join us to learn how using Edge will help you make strategic decisions about technology services and connect more closely with your community. Edge, a professional management and leadership tool, gives libraries a look into their local data, from operations to partnerships and programming. It guides library leaders in assessing how their community is using technology and how to align future growth and services with community goals. It also provides useful resources to package and showcase the data to community leaders. Presenters: Lourdes Aceves, Senior Program Manager, Edge Initiative and Dr. Molly Kinney, Mifflin County Library, Lewistown, PA.

1. GETTING THE EDGE!
NCOMPASS LIVE - JUNE 18, 2014
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
Connect!
Lourdes Aceves Dr. Molly Kinney
Senior Program Manager Executive Director
Urban Libraries Council Mifflin County Library, PA

2. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
EDGE OVERVIEW

3. • Assess current public access
technology and how it’s used
• Identify ways to strengthen or
enhance public access
technology
• Engage with key leaders about
the role for the public library in
improving communities
WHY IS EDGE IMPORTANT
TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES?
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Communities Achieve
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4. The coalition of leading library and local government organizations
working on Edge includes:
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation –funding partner for Edge
• Urban Libraries Council – the lead agency for Edge
• American Library Association, OITP
• International City/County Management Association
• LYRASIS
• OCLC’s WebJunction
• Public Library Association
• State Libraries of California, Oklahoma and Texas
• TechSoup Global
• Universities of Maryland and Washington
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THE EDGE ROUNDTABLE

5. BENCHMARKS ASSESSMENT
TOOL
RESOURCES
& CASE STUDIES
TRAINING
REPORTING &
PRESENTATION
TOOLS
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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THE EDGE TOOLKIT

6. EDGE BENCHMARKS VERSION 1.0
11 benchmarks to
assess public access
technology services
across three main areas
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Communities Achieve
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Engaging the
Community
and Decision
Makers
Organizational
Management
Community
Value

7. V 1.0 BENCHMARKS: COMMUNITY VALUE
Benchmark 3:
Libraries provide technology resources to help patrons meet important
needs related to personal goals and community priorities
The library supports the use of public technology for :
3.1 Workforce development and entrepreneurship
3.2 eGovernment or legal purposes
3.3 Patrons pursuing educational opportunities
3.4 Health and wellness purposes
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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8. V 1.0 BENCHMARKS: ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY
Benchmark 5:
Libraries build strategic relationships with community partners to
maximize public access technology resources and services provided to
the community
5.1 The library develops and maintains partnerships that amplify the
library’s reach, avoid duplication of effort, aid the library in planning or
advocacy, or are otherwise mutually beneficial
5.2 The library engages in technology outreach activities
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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9. EDGE RESULTS IN PILOT LIBRARIES
Miami, OK
• Digital Literacy
• Strategic Planning Based on
Community Priorities
• Library Staff Technology Expertise
New Braunfels, TX
• Strategic Partnerships
• Library Staff Technology Expertise
• Technology Inclusiveness
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

10. Identifies gaps &
opportunities
Engages staff
in improving
the library
Opens dialogue
Communicates
value
INTERNAL
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
EDGE IS HELPFUL INTERNALLY & EXTERNALLY
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
EXTERNAL

11. Helps stakeholders connect technology in libraries with
achieving community priorities
+ + =
LIBRARY PUBLIC ACCESS
TECHNOLOGY
PARTNERSHIPS ACHIEVING
COMMUNITY
PRIORITIES
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
EXECUTIVE TOOLS (REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS)
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

13. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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EDGE LIBRARY ACCOUNTS

14. • Overview
o Dashboard that shows progress
o Ability to export and download details
• Assessment results and recommendations
• Ability to reopen assessment
• Ability to customize tools, register for training
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
LIBRARY ACCOUNTS
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

15. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

17. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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18. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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19. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

20. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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Communities Achieve
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22. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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23. • Helps libraries contextualize their scores; focus is
using peer comparison data to help libraries
determine priorities and make strategic decisions
• Based on completions of the assessment from a
representative national sample of public libraries
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
COMING SOON: PEER COMPARISON TOOL
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24. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
MIFFLIN COUNTY LIBRARY

25. • Small/Rural
• Ranks 66 out of 67 counties in per capita income
• Aging
• We were already depressed so the latest “Great Depression”
had an even more significant impact on our population and
county
• Close knit community with many faith based organizations and
civic groups
ABOUT MIFFLIN COUNTY
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Communities Achieve
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26. • Three branches (we had 5 but closed two this year)
• 12 full and part-time staff
• 25 volunteers
• About $500,000 a year operating budget
ABOUT MIFFLIN COUNTY LIBRARY
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Communities Achieve
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27. • No Broadband
• 14 year old ILS
• Out-of-date technology plan
• Aging computers
• Uneducated staff – they didn’t know what they didn’t know
JANUARY 2013
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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28. HERE’S WHAT WE LEARNED AND IMPLEMENTED
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
• The Edge Initiative changed our service to the community
• Be terminally perky about the EDGE initiative. This isn’t one
more thing you have to do!
• Permeate and integrate your organization with the initiative as
if your entire funding depended on EDGE participation
• Take a long term approach to the initiative

29. • Understand that evoking the “Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation” adds a layer of credibility to conversations with key
stakeholders
• Realize that the results are probably not going to be anything
new to you
• Remember the adage “Give a man a fish, he eats for a
day….teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.” The Gates
Foundation computers that public libraries received in the past
were fish. The EDGE is designed to teach libraries how to fish.
ATTITUDE
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

30. • Library’s Edge Leader
• Organization’s Leadership/Management Team
• All Staff, Board, Friends
• Funders – pick one person from each funding base and gain their
support. Let them sell this initiative to their colleagues.
• Community at large
ALL ABOARD
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
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31. • Don’t be discouraged with all the recommendations
• Prioritize over a several year period
• Talk about the results and disseminate them to key stakeholders
• Pick just 2 items that you think you can accomplish in a short
period of time
• Add selected priorities to position descriptions at all levels
• Pick one priority that the Board can focus on; pick another for the
Friends. Communicate with each how to ‘tie’ each priority to the
other and to the initiative overall
OUR ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

32. • Ask the Friends, Funders, for a specific allocation for 1 Edge
Priority
• Allocate money in next year’s budget for at least 1 priority
• Target specific community groups to fund a priority
ASK…ASK…ASK FOR SEED MONEY
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

33. • Keep “talking” about the Edge Initiative- Social Media, Letters to
the Editor, Newsletters, community outreach, etc.
• Put the Edge logo on your webpage
• Use the tool kit as appropriate BUT customize it to YOUR
community.
– Refine your elevator speech until it just rolls off your tongue.
– Be practical and answer the question “What can EDGE do for
Me?” before someone asks
THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

34. Most of this was done in-house with existing staff
• County Commissioners provided $16,000 in seed monies
(this didn’t cover all we’ve done but it surely helped)
• Shifted staff duties and ‘created’ a Technology Services
Coordinator position using existing staff
• Completely new website
Our district center provided staff training, wrote some code,
and helped us tweak, refine and enhance the site
MIFFLIN COUNTY LIBRARY’S RESULTS SINCE AUG. 2013
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

35. • New Broadband network
We hired a consulting firm to help us with this
• Updated our ILS and it’s now cloud based
• Installed Time and Print Management software in all public access
computers
Our district center provided training and installation help
• Implemented staff training program to update and learn new skills
MIFFLIN COUNTY LIBRARY’S RESULTS SINCE AUG. 2013
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org

36. “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid
in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn
out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
THANKS TO EDGE, MCL IS ON A RIDE!
Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
― Hunter S. Thompson

37. Where People Connect,
Communities Achieve
@LibraryEdge @LibraryEdge www.LibraryEdge.org
THANK YOU…WHAT’S NEXT
• Register for your Edge account at libraryedge.org
• Visit the Edge Support Center for help
• Download the Edge Assessment Workbook
• Engage staff and Complete the Assessment