Making it REAL! Interim Performance Report

Interim Performance Report (OMB#3137-0029)

Award Number: RE-01-04-0053-04

Awardee Institution Name: New York State Library

Period covered by this Interim Report: From: April 1, 2006 To: October 1, 2006

This report also available in .PDF format.

Project Director: Mary Linda Todd, Library Development Specialist
Telephone: (518) 486-4858
E-mail: mtodd@mail.nysed.gov

Narrative Description

A. What is the Purpose of the Project?

The New York State Library's Making It REAL! recruitment and education project has a number of objectives:

    • To launch a bold and imaginative plan to effect fundamental change in recruitment and education for librarianship
    • To provide financial support for 44 master's-level library students, enabling an infusion of new recruits into the library profession
    • To create a Teaching Library model that will provide best practices that can be replicated by library systems, library schools, and library organizations statewide and nationwide to help libraries and library schools build strong partnerships and develop new means of collaboration
    • To develop an online career resource website for use by future and current librarians
    • To help develop a stronger recruitment process for the field of librarianship with the development of new strategies, new means of communication, alternatives for library education, and a heightened awareness of recruitment needs for the 21st century

B. What activities or services have been carried out with project funds to support the purpose of the project? If the project schedule has not been met, explain why and describe the steps being taken to return the project to its proposed schedule of completion.

    The following grant activities or services have occurred since April 1, 2006.

    • All grant partners have been awarded contracts (12 Teaching Libraries and 6 Library Schools) and are in the process of drawing-down money for expenses as needed.
    • 41 scholarship recipients have been recruited, have started school, and are planning to receive their degrees by the end of the grant period.
    • 2 students out of the 41 students recruited have finished their studies and received their library degrees.

    • Much time has been spent working with the New York Library Association (NYLA) to develop 3 programs related to diversity in the library profession to be presented at the annual NYLA conference in November 2006.

    • Many hours have been spent working with the consultant who is developing the library career web site. A prototype of the web site can be found at http://librarycareersny.org

    • Two student assistants continue to work 10-20 hours per week on grant-related activities, including working with the grant evaluator.

    • The Making It REAL! project web site has been updated as needed.

    • All partners, under the guidance of the grant evaluator, have completed their individual outcome-based evaluation logic models. During the next 6 months of the grant period, the grant evaluator will be following up with all grant partners as to their progress in achieving their outcomes and goals.

    • There has been frequent communication (often weekly or daily) with all grant partners and vendors to insure the project is progressing according to the grant timeline.

C. What are the outputs of the project activities or services to support the purpose of the project? Explain what documentation is used to report the outputs.

    • 41 scholarship recipients have been recruited and have begun their studies.
    • Out of the 41 students, 2 scholarship students have completed their studies and received their degrees.
    • A prototype of the library career website has been set up and continues to be developed as content is added
    • 3,000 bookmarks advertising the library career website have been printed and are waiting for distribution when the website goes "live"
    • 3 programs for the 2006 New York Library Association November conference have been developed related to diversity in librarianship
    • 1 presentation was made to the deans of the 7 New York State library schools to update them on the activities of the Making It REAL! project
    • 1 presentation was made concerning Making It REAL! project activities to new outreach coordinators from various library systems around the state
    • 1 meeting was facilitated for the two separate vendors who must work together on developing the library career website and the related PR materials that will be developed

D. What are the outcomes of the project activities or services to support the purpose of the project? Explain what documentation is used to report the outcomes.

The outcomes identifies in the logic model developed at the outcome-based evaluation workshop in Washington, D.C. in December 2004 are mostly long-term outcomes, so they have not yet been achieved. However, Outcome #1, which states "Scholarship students graduate with MLS/MLIS degrees within grant period" has begun to have results. Since the last report, two students have completed their studies and received library degrees. One student is now a certified school media specialist and the other student will go into law librarianship.

E. Report other results of the project activities.

As mentioned previously, the funding from the Making It REAL! project has made it possible to present programs at the upcoming New York Library Association 2006 conference related to diversity both in the library community and in the library profession. One of these programs specifically addresses the Spanish-speaking library constituency and is also related to the activities of the New York State Library's partnership with WebJunction concerning the statewide initiative - the Spanish Language Outreach Program. As a result, participants in both the Making It REAL! program and the Spanish Language Outreach Program will be attending this conference program.

F. Additional Comments:

The Making It REAL! Project is a very complex one with multiple components and 19 grant partners, in addition to three vendors. The New York State Library grant project staff is proud of the project's accomplishments since the grant was awarded and is looking forward to the remainder of the grant's second year. As stated in previous reports, this is a project that is actually changing lives, and the New York State Library is proud to have a part in the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.

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Last Updated: July 10, 2009