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: October 1, 2006 To: April 1, 2007

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 October 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.
    • 36 scholarship recipients are in school, and are planning to receive their degrees by the end of the grant period.
    • 5 students out of the 41 students recruited have finished their studies and received their library degrees.
    • Many hours were spent working with the consultant who is developing the library career website. There are several purposes to this website.  It’s a resource for potential librarians who are interested in obtaining information about the library profession; it provides New York State-specific information regarding obtaining library certification; it provides job listings; and it publicizes the Making It REAL! project. The website was introduced to the library community at the New York Library Association conference in November 2006.
    • 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 website has been updated as needed.
    • All partners, under the guidance of the grant evaluator, are tracking the success of their projects according to their individually-developed 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.
    • The grant evaluator met with many of the Making It REAL! scholarship recipients at the New York Library Association conference in November, 2006 and interviewed them, along with several grant partners, as to their progress and how they felt the Making It REAL! program was progressing.  The interview results, entitled “Student Survey 2006,” have been posted on the project’s website.
    • Three programs were presented at the New York Library Conference (Nov. 2006).  One program concerned library services to the Spanish speaking community; one program presented a discussion of the Teaching Library Model; and one program explored the diversity in the library community.  A complete description of all programs can be seen at: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/p2/nyla2006MakingItRealprograms.pdf
    • The Making It REAL! project director worked with the project’s grant evaluator and the librarycareersny.org website developer to develop a survey to evaluate the website.
    • The Making It REAL! project director worked with a PR firm to develop a press release and other materials to publicize the librarycareersny.org site.  These items are slated for release in spring 2007.
    • 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.

Outputs of the project activities are the following:

  • Out of the 41 students, 5 scholarship students have completed their studies and received their degrees.
  • The library career website has “gone live” and continues to be developed as content is added.
  • Three programs related to diversity in librarianship were presented at the 2006 New York Library Association November conference. (See http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/p2/nyla2006MakingItRealprograms.pdf )
  • One meeting was facilitated for the two separate vendors who must work together on developing and evaluating the library career website.
  • An evaluation survey was developed by the project’s grant evaluator and posted on the librarycareersny.org site.
  • A presentation was made to the New York State Regents Advisory Council in December 2006 concerning the Making It REAL! project.

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, five students have completed their studies and received library degrees. 

Outcome #2 states “Scholarship students accept positions that meet specialized needs as defined in the grant proposal” has also begun to realize results.  The students that graduated have entered diversified fields of librarianship, such as public libraries, school libraries, law, and medical 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 New York Library Association 2006 conference related to diversity both in the library community and in the library profession.  One of these programs specifically addressed the Spanish-speaking library constituency and was 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 attended 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 four 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 third 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