A vital part of the Library's Mission is to "provide its students, faculty, staff, and administration with the resources necessary to support their educational needs and objectives." In order to accomplish this, Henry Buhl Library seeks to achieve the following goals with respect to Library Outreach / Engagement:
Goal 1: Be the academic information center of the Grove City College campus
Goal 3: Provide assistance and appropriate resources to support scholars with their academic pursuits
Goal 5: Foster an interest in and/or love of the library
Goal 6: Provide opportunities outside of the classroom that promote education and care for the whole person
These goals are aligned with Henry Buhl Library's mission "to provide its students, faculty, staff, and administration with the resources necessary to support their educational needs and objectives," as well as Grove City College's institution-wide objectives.
In order to accomplish these library goals, the Outreach Services Librarian has established the following objectives for Outreach / Engagement:
Description of Assessment | The Student and Faculty/Staff newsletters are uploaded to our content management and curation platform Libguides.com. A link to the newsletters are emailed to students, faculty and staff. The Outreach Services librarian gathers read statistics for each issue every month. |
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Responsibility | Outreach Services Librarian |
Distribution of Results | Library Director; Library Staff |
Assessment Schedule | Ongoing; major changes reported when noted |
Last Assessment Occurred | Spring 2021 |
Changes Made Based on |
The library newsletters were initially distributed via email as PDFs (Fall 2013 - Spring 2017). However, this did not allow the Outreach Services Librarian to gauge the number of recipients that read their newsletter. In Fall 2017, Issuu.com began distributing the newsletters. This site provides statistics about the number of recipients that read the newsletter, as well as the number of links clicked within the publication. Identification of trends may result in changes in future semesters. The hosting platform changed again in February 2018 from Issuu.com to Libguides.com because of a change in Issuu’s offered services. The statistics feature was removed from Issuu.com for a free account. Libguides was chosen as the alternative because the library already subscribes to the service and it provides a statistics feature. Library newsletters were sent weekly to students from mid-March - May 2020. Statistics were gathered for all issues during this period. |
Description of Assessment | The library has accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our accounts are promoted on our homepage and on marketing materials. Posts to these sites occur several times a week. The Outreach Services librarian gathers impression statistics such as likes, shares and re-tweets on the account and each individual post once a month. |
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Responsibility | Outreach Services Librarian |
Distribution of Results | Library Director; Library Staff |
Assessment Schedule | Ongoing; major changes reported when noted |
Last Assessment Occurred | Spring 2021 |
Changes Made Based on |
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Description of Assessment | Respondents are asked what they liked and didn't like about the Open House, any suggestions for improvements, and what, if any, questions they still have about the library and/or its services. With the IL Student Learning Outcomes focusing on students being able to navigate the library and its services, particular attention is paid to any responses on these topics. All responses are discussed by the Library Director, Assessment Coordinator, and Outreach Services Librarian before the next Open House and adjustments are made as needed. |
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Responsibility | Library Assessment Coordinator |
Distribution of Results | Library Director; Outreach Services Librarian; Provost; L & T Committee, Board of Trustees |
Assessment Schedule | Every Fall, beginning Fall 2015 |
Last Assessment Occurred |
Fall 2020 Due to thelibrary's renovation and Covid-19, the library did not host an Open House in Fall 2021. |
Changes Made Based on Assessment Data |
1. Added more signage and student staff to the event to improve navigation. Discontinued using library maps as guides. (2016) 2. Added more visuals, campus organizations, and activities to the Open House. (2016) 3. Invited the TLC Helpdesk to be a part of the Library Open House. (2017) 4. In addition to therapy dogs, the library invited cats to participate in the Library Open House as well. (2017) |
Description of Program | Faculty who have recently published books, book chapters, and/or journal articles are invited to the library to present and discuss the subject of their work to students, staff, other faculty, and the general public. |
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Grove City College Objectives |
Grove City College Objectives Addressed with this Program:
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Buhl Library Goals |
Buhl Library Goals Addressed with this Program:
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Outreach / Engagement Outcomes |
Outreach / Engagement Outcome: The Faculty Book Talk event will:
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Type of Assessment |
Library staff will observe the attendees at each Faculty Book Talk and count the 1) total number of attendees, 2) the number of questions asked by attendees, and 3) the number of people actively taking notes during the talk. |
Description of Assessment |
One staff member will be responsible for counting the total number of attendees approximately 10 minutes after the Faculty Book Talk has begun. Additional staff member(s), using clickers, will observe the Faculty Book Talk adding a tally every time a question is asked and a separate tally for each person observed taking notes. Outcome – “Engage attendees in academic discussions outside of the classroom.”
The percentage of questions/comments and note-takers will be compared to our target of 10% or more attendees engaged in the event to determine if the outcome was achieved. |
Responsibility | Library Assessment Coordinator; Outreach Librarian |
Distribution of Results | Library Director; Provost; L & T Committee, Board of Trustees; Assistant Dean for Institutional Assessment |
Assessment Schedule | Every Faculty Book Talk |
Last Assessment Occurred | Fall 2023 |
Changes Made Based on Assessment Data |
Description of Assessment | A Suggestion Box is provided on the Library homepage. The Library Director and Assessment Coordinator receive copies of all suggestions provided via email. Responses are recorded and grouped into categories, then analyzed, looking for trends. |
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Responsibility | Library Director; Library Assessment Coordinator |
Distribution of Results | Library Director; Library Staff; Provost; L & T Committee, Board of Trustees |
Assessment Schedule | Ongoing |
Last Assessment Occurred | Spring 2015 |
Changes Made Based on |
1. Adjusted water pressure in the library bathrooms. (2014) 2. Adjusted a Media Services door that was banging loudly and disturbing patrons. (2014) 3. Made it possible for patrons to place their own holds online. (2014) 4. Improved our displays of audio books (2014) and DVDs for easier browsing. (2015/16) 5. Added carts with signs for students to place items that they used, but did not check out. (2014) |
Description of Program | Each Study Day, when students are under additional stress due to their upcoming final exams, therapy dogs are invited to the library to ameliorate the stress levels of students. |
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Grove City College Objectives |
Grove City College Objectives Addressed with this Program:
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Buhl Library Goals |
Buhl Library Goals Addressed with this Program:
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Outreach / Engagement Outcomes |
Outreach / Engagement Outcome: Students who attend the Therapy Dog Program event will:
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Type of Assessment |
Using a scale with three face emojis to indicate their stress, students will use stickers before and after visiting the dogs to demonstrate where their stress levels were prior to and after the event. |
Description of Assessment |
Approximately 15 minutes before the event, a large sheet of paper with the emojis placed equidistant from each other will invite students to indicate "How's your Stress?" A poster explaining the purpose of the board and how students can indicate their stress levels will be provided beside the paper. Shortly after the dogs have left, the poster and sheet of paper will be collected. Outcome – “Students who attend the Therapy Dog Program event will experience a reduction in their stress level.”
After the event, students' responses will be evaluated to determine if our target of 25% or fewer students indicating a final stress level in the top 2 sections (indicating a stress level of 4-5) was achieved. |
Responsibility | Library Assessment Coordinator; Outreach Librarian |
Distribution of Results | Library Director; Provost; L & T Committee, Board of Trustees; Assistant Dean for Institutional Assessment |
Assessment Schedule | Every Study Day |
Last Assessment Occurred | Fall 2019 |
Changes Made Based on Assessment Data |
Although not formally assessed at this time, the following programs and resources may be the subject of future assessments.