Category: Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment Advisory Group

The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The committee continues to provide feedback to support the annual development of Benchmark, including recommending improvements to the Benchmark product and providing feedback to PLA staff throughout the development process. The committee specifically made recommendations and approved changes to improve the functionality of the pages for the end users by rearranging the visuals. We also contribute to PLA efforts to increase adoption of Benchmark and subscriber retention, including collecting Benchmark presentation material for use by MEAAG members at local and regional meetings.
The committee assists PLA staff with the development, testing, and reporting of new annual topical surveys administered via Benchmark. The committee has begun work for the next annual survey, Technology Survey, scheduled for the fall 2026.
MEAAG members continue to work to preserve the important outcome-based resources on outcome surveys and data on the PLA website with the end of Project Outcome.
MEAAG and EDISJ presented a session at the PLA 2026 Conference, called “Outcomes and Benchmark For the Rest of Us” on Thursday, April 2, 2026 that combined EDISJ objectives and outcome based program surveys that garnered approximately 50 attendees. Many people had questions about how to implement these surveys at their own libraries.
The committee also hosted a Member Lounge session at the PLA conference, which attracted approximately 30 attendees.
The Case Studies subcommittee is continuing to pilot and refine a new process for soliciting and reviewing case studies that support the use of PLA’s data tools. Derived from the model used by ACRL, the new process includes revised case study guidelines, a submission form, and individual roles for committee members in the review process to make the work more streamlined.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
MEAAG members continue to pursue these growth areas in the 2025-2026 committee year:
EDISJ – Data is a necessary component to advancing EDISJ in the profession. Through PLA's data tools, we help those in the profession better understand our communities (an essential step in making our spaces more inclusive), learn from other communities' successes, and measure our impact. In addition, applying an EDISJ lens to MEAAG’s work will help ensure that data is gathered responsibly, and that necessary context is provided when we present and share data.

Professional Growth – MEAAG strives to increase the field’s understanding of data-informed practices, provide unique and valuable data to professionals, and increase the network of data-focused library professionals to provide support and growth to those innovating in the field. We will continue to encourage members to seek opportunities to contribute to supporting professional learning and development related to library data and evaluation.

Advocacy and Awareness – PLA’s Benchmark data platform provides considerable value to the profession, in helping us tell the story of how public libraries benefit communities. MEAAG members are very invested in the success of this tool, and we are exploring ways we can increase awareness about the data, tools, and resources available to support library staff and leaders in communicating the true impact and value of libraries to stakeholders.

Transformation – MEAAG members represent a good cross-section of the field, with representation from public libraries, state library agencies, and support organizations from locations across the country. MEAAG will continue to draw from these perspectives to identify emerging needs in the field. Working with the PLA data products, MEAAG members will contribute to identification of trends and development of resources to support responsiveness to community needs.

Organizational Excellence – MEAAG members participate in continuous improvement of PLA’s Benchmark data product with a focus on increasing value for subscribers and are working to develop accessible resources to support adoption of Benchmark.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
For greater efficiency, the four subcommittees have been combined to form two subcommittees.
The Benchmark and Topical Surveys subcommittee will gear up to promote the 2026 Technology Survey in the fall and present the findings from the 2025 Services Survey and will advise PLA staff about potential improvements to the Benchmark platform and assist with webinars and conference presentations to provide professional development to the field (Supports Transformation, Organizational Excellence, EDISJ, Advocacy and Awareness)
The Case Studies and Outcome Measurement subcommittee will continue refining its approach to soliciting and reviewing case studies about data-informed practices using Benchmark and outcomes assessment and maintain outcome measurement resources on the PLA webpage. (Supports Organizational Excellence, Professional Growth, Transformation)

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
We are actively investigating opportunities to partner with other ALA divisions in support of professional development on collecting, evaluating, and reporting data – and doing so in an equity-informed way – including continued work with the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee. Continued learning support for outcomes assessment is a key to success in ongoing grant-funded digital equity projects. The Digital Literacy Committee is increasingly addressing the increase in interest in and visibility of digital equity as a result of landmark federal legislation that provided funding to support these efforts. MEAAG believes that PLA data products can help stakeholders make strong decisions about how to best use those resources.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
Sara Goek and Katina Jones continue to be a great support for our advisory group and are fabulous to work with. Committee member capacity continues to be affected by the current unsettled environment in libraries. We appreciate the opportunity to continue supporting data-driven librarianship and look forward to sharing results with the field from the 2025 Service Survey and gearing up for the 2026 Technology Survey.

Submitted by Kim DeNero-Ackroyd, Laurie Covington on 06/10/2026

The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The committee continues to provide feedback to support the annual development of Benchmark, including recommending improvements to the Benchmark product and providing feedback to PLA staff throughout the development process. The committee specifically made recommendations about rearranging the visuals to help with the functionality of the pages for the end users. We also contribute to PLA efforts to increase adoption of Benchmark and subscriber retention, including collecting Benchmark presentation material for use by MEAAG members at local and regional meetings.
The committee assists PLA staff with the development, testing, and reporting of new annual topical surveys administered via Benchmark. The committee presented the 2024 Staff Survey results at the 2025 Annual Conference and with a webinar in the fall. Committee members also helped promote the Public Library Services Survey in Fall 2025 with a successful 20.6% response rate. Work has begun for the next annual survey, Technology Survey, scheduled for the fall 2026.
MEAAG members continue to work to preserve the important outcome-based resources on outcome surveys and data on the PLA website with the end of Project Outcome.
The Case Studies subcommittee is continuing to pilot and refine a new process for soliciting and reviewing case studies that support the use of PLA’s data tools. Derived from the model used by ACRL, the new process includes revised case study guidelines, a submission form, and individual roles for committee members in the review process to make the work more streamlined.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
MEAAG members continue to pursue these growth areas in the 2025-2026 committee year:
EDISJ – Data is a necessary component to advancing EDISJ in the profession. Through PLA's data tools, we help those in the profession better understand our communities (an essential step in making our spaces more inclusive), learn from other communities' successes, and measure our impact. In addition, applying an EDISJ lens to MEAAG’s work will help ensure that data is gathered responsibly, and that necessary context is provided when we present and share data. EDISJ and MEAAG committee members are presenting jointly at PLA 2026 called “Outcomes and Benchmark For the Rest of Us” scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 4pm that combines EDISJ objectives and outcome based program surveys.

Professional Growth – MEAAG strives to increase the field’s understanding of data-informed practices, provide unique and valuable data to professionals, and increase the network of data-focused library professionals to provide support and growth to those innovating in the field. We will continue to encourage members to seek opportunities to contribute to supporting professional learning and development related to library data and evaluation.

Advocacy and Awareness – PLA’s Benchmark data platform provides considerable value to the profession, in helping us tell the story of how public libraries benefit communities. MEAAG members are very invested in the success of this tool, and we are exploring ways we can increase awareness about the data, tools, and resources available to support library staff and leaders in communicating the true impact and value of libraries to stakeholders.

Transformation – MEAAG members represent a good cross-section of the field, with representation from public libraries, state library agencies, and support organizations from locations across the country. MEAAG will continue to draw from these perspectives to identify emerging needs in the field. Working with the PLA data products, MEAAG members will contribute to identification of trends and development of resources to support responsiveness to community needs.

Organizational Excellence – MEAAG members participate in continuous improvement of PLA’s Benchmark data product with a focus on increasing value for subscribers and are working to develop accessible resources to support adoption of Benchmark.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
For greater efficiency, the four subcommittees have been combined to form two subcommittees.
The Benchmark and Topical Surveys subcommittee will gear up to promote the 2026 Technology Survey and present the findings from the 2025 Services Survey and will advise PLA staff about potential improvements to the Benchmark platform and assist with webinars and conference presentations to provide professional development to the field (Supports Transformation, Organizational Excellence, EDISJ, Advocacy and Awareness)
The Case Studies and Outcome Measurement subcommittee will continue refining its approach to soliciting and reviewing case studies about data-informed practices using Benchmark and outcomes assessment and maintain outcome measurement resources on the PLA webpage. (Supports Organizational Excellence, Professional Growth, Transformation)

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
We are actively investigating opportunities to partner with other ALA divisions in support of professional development on collecting, evaluating, and reporting data – and doing so in an equity-informed way – including the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee. A conference proposal was accepted for PLA 2026 Conference from EDISJ and MEAAG. Continued learning support for outcomes assessment is a key to success in ongoing grant-funded digital equity projects. The Digital Literacy Committee is increasingly addressing the increase in interest in and visibility of digital equity as a result of landmark federal legislation that provided funding to support these efforts. MEAAG believes that PLA data products can help stakeholders make strong decisions about how to best use those resources.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
Sara Goek and Katina Jones continue to be a great support for our advisory group and are fabulous to work with. Committee member capacity continues to be affected by the current unsettled environment in libraries. We appreciate the opportunity to continue supporting data-driven librarianship and look forward to sharing results with the field from the 2025 Service Survey and gearing up for the 2026 Technology Survey

Submitted by Laurie Covington and Kim DeNero-Ackroyd on 01/20/2026

The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
In the past six months MEAAG members have assisted in subcommittee work and provided support to PLA staff related to PLA’s data platforms.

The Project Outcome subcommittee has been placed on pause, given the planned transition for the Project Outcome platform. Instead, a temporary task force (comprising MEAAG members, past MEAAG members, and subject matter experts) has explored potential alternatives for continuing Project Outcome. Unfortunately, none of these alternatives proved viable, and the group has shifted to assisting with the development and implementation of a Project Outcome transition plan. At its December meeting, MEAAG reviewed the Project Outcome for Public Libraries Transition Implementation Plan and agreed by consensus to approve the plan.

The Benchmark subcommittee has provided feedback to support annual development of Benchmark, including recommending improvements to the Benchmark product and providing feedback to PLA staff throughout the development process, and contributed to PLA’s efforts to increase adoption of Benchmark and subscriber retention, which included assisting PLA staff with the Become a Data-Informed Library with Benchmark webinar in November 2024.

The Topical Surveys subcommittee assists PLA staff with the development, testing, and reporting of new annual topical surveys administered via Benchmark. In summer 2024, MEAAG members helped PLA staff present the results of the 2023 topical survey at the ALA Annual Conference and through a free webinar. Additionally, the Public Library Staff Survey was conducted for the second time. Advisory Group members assisted with annual survey promotion and encouraged participation through their networks.

The Case Studies subcommittee is continuing to pilot and refine a new process for soliciting and reviewing case studies that support use of PLA’s data tools. Derived from the model used by ACRL, the new process includes revised case study guidelines, a submission form, and individual roles for committee members in the review process to make the work more streamlined.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
MEAC members continue to pursue these growth areas in the 2024-25 committee year:

EDISJ – Data is a necessary component to advancing EDISJ in the profession. Through PLA's data tools, we help those in the profession better understand our communities (an essential step in making our spaces more inclusive), learn from other communities' successes, and measure our impact. In addition, applying an EDISJ lens to MEAAG’s work will help ensure that data is gathered responsibly and that necessary context is provided when we present and share data.

Professional Growth – MEAAG strives to increase the field’s understanding of data-informed practices, provide unique and valuable data to professionals, and increase the network of data-focused library professionals to provide support and growth to those innovating in the field. We will continue to encourage members to seek opportunities to contribute to supporting professional learning and development related to library data and evaluation.

Advocacy and Awareness – PLA’s Benchmark data platform provides considerable value to the profession, in helping us tell the story of how public libraries benefit communities. MEAAG members are very invested in the success of this tool, and we are exploring ways we can increase awareness about the data, tools, and resources available to support library staff and leaders in communicating the true impact and value of libraries to stakeholders.

Transformation – MEAAG members represent a good cross-section of the field, with representation from public libraries, state library agencies, and support organizations from locations across the country. MEAAG will continue to draw from these perspectives to identify emerging needs in the field. Working with the PLA data products, MEAAG members will contribute to identification of trends and development of resources to support responsiveness to community needs.

Organizational Excellence – MEAAG members participate in continuous improvement of PLA’s Benchmark data product with a focus on increasing value for subscribers and are working to develop accessible resources to support adoption of Benchmark. MEAAG’s assistance in curating resources for the transitioned Project Outcome static site and other elements of the transition plan support PLA’s efforts at fiscal responsibility in light of available revenues.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
The Topical Surveys subcommittee will review the results data from the 2024 Staff Survey for insights to highlight for the field, and will assist PLA staff in preparing for the 2025 Services Survey. (Supports Transformation, EDISJ, Advocacy and Awareness)

The Case Studies subcommittee will continue refining its approach to soliciting and reviewing case studies about data-informed practices using Benchmark and outcomes assessment. (Supports Professional Growth, Transformation)

The Benchmark subcommittee will advise PLA staff about potential improvements to the platform and assist with webinars and conference presentations to provide professional development to the field. (Supports Organizational Excellence, Advocacy and Awareness, Transformation, EDISJ)

The Project Outcome subcommittee will assist PLA staff in implementing the Project Outcome for Public Libraries Transition Implementation Plan, as well as investigate and develop new learning resources to support continued outcomes assessment work within the field. We envision this subcommittee transitioning in the next committee/advisory group year to support data-driven librarianship resources. (Supports Organizational Excellence, Transformation, Professional Growth)

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
We are actively investigating opportunities to partner with other ALA divisions in support of professional development on collecting, evaluating, and reporting data – and doing so in an equity-informed way – including the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee. Continued learning support for outcomes assessment is a key to success in ongoing grant-funded digital equity projects. The Digital Literacy Committee is increasingly addressing the increase in interest in and visibility of digital equity as a result of landmark federal legislation that provided funding to support these efforts. MEAAG believe that PLA data products can help stakeholders make strong decision about how to best use those resources.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
The past six months have brought challenges, with one of MEAAG’s liaisons (Sara Goek) on a sabbatical and one of our co-chairs resigning due to job changes, while we pondered how to address the future of Project Outcome. Katina Jones has continued to be a great support for our advisory group and is fabulous to work with. We appreciate the opportunity to continue supporting data-driven librarianship and look forward to sharing results with the field from the 2024 Staff Survey!

Submitted by Jerianne Thompson, Laurie Covington on 12/20/2024

The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment Committee (MEAC) has four major areas of work, aligned with PLA projects and products, with members participating in subcommittees to support each area.

Project Outcome: MEAC assists PLA with supporting user engagement and developing new resources for the Project Outcome toolkit to meet the evolving needs of the field. During the reporting period, committee members reviewed the results of the Project Outcome user survey and developed ideas for additional promotional work to support increased adoption and utilization.

Benchmark: MEAC supports PLA by advising the development of the Benchmark tool and by helping to develop resources to encourage libraries to engage in benchmarking practices and to improve usability. Over the past six months, new video tutorials and use case documents were added to the site, with more resources in development. Committee members recommended improvements based on a report from the University of Michigan School of Information, as well as giving input on marketing efforts. The committee regularly provides support to PLA staff responsible for product development, including input on prioritization of potential product features.

Topical Surveys: MEAC assists PLA staff with the development, testing, and reporting of new annual topical surveys administered via Benchmark. Subcommittee members provide support from the field, with a focus on helping to boost response rates, and help develop the current year survey. In summer 2023, MEAC members helped PLA staff present the results of the 2022 topical survey at the ALA Annual Conference and through a free webinar. Also during the reporting period, the Public Library Technology Survey was conducted (last conducted in 2020). The survey had the highest yet participating rate since the launch of the new topical surveys – 16.4%. Promotion through committee members’ professional networks contributed to this strong participation.

Case Studies: MEAC facilitates the writing of case studies for PLA’s data tools. Subcommittee members focused on identifying ways to make the process of soliciting, preparing, and reviewing case studies more efficient, to enable a more consistent process and increased publication. After reviewing the model used by ACRL, subcommittee members began developing a streamlined process; this work is still underway.

In addition to these efforts, MEAC members worked with PLA staff to curate the November/December 2023 issue of Public Libraries magazine, which had a theme of library data. The committee also conducted an environmental scan regarding what data tools are currently being used by public libraries.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
MEAC members continue to pursue these growth areas in the 2023-24 committee year:

EDISJ – Data is a necessary component to advancing EDISJ in the profession. Through PLA's data tools, we help those in the profession better understand our communities (an essential step in making our spaces more inclusive), learn from other communities' successes, and measure our impact. In addition, applying an EDISJ lens to our committee's work will help ensure that data is gathered responsibly and that necessary context is provided when we present and share data.

Professional Growth – Data literacy is a growing field within librarianship, but there remain significant knowledge gaps within the profession regarding how to compile and evaluate data for purposes such as planning and advocacy. We will continue to encourage members to seek opportunities to contribute to supporting professional learning and development related to library data and evaluation.

Advocacy – PLA’s data tools provide considerable value to the profession, in helping us tell the story of how public libraries benefit communities. MEAC members are very invested in the success of these tools, and we are exploring ways we can increase awareness about the data, tools, and resources available to support library staff and leaders in communicating the impact and value of libraries to stakeholders.

Transformation – MEAC members represent a good cross-section of the field, with representation from public libraries, state library agencies, support organizations, and the private sector, from locations across the country. MEAC will continue to draw from these perspectives to identify emerging needs in the field. Working with the PLA data products, MEAC members will contribute to identification of trends and development of resources to support responsiveness to community needs.

Organizational Excellence – MEAC contributes to the quality of data products offered through PLA and will continue to work closely with PLA staff to support ongoing product development, as well as to advocate for increased adoption of data-informed practices that are supported by PLA’s products, educational opportunities, and publications.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
While MEAC will transition from a standing committee to an advisory group, much of our committee’s work remains ongoing, including promoting the results of the Library Technology survey, preparing for the 2024 Library Staff survey, and preparing for the 10-year anniversary of Project Outcome.

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
We hope to continue building connections with our colleagues in two ACRL committees (Project Outcome for Academic Libraries Editorial board and Academic Library Trends and Survey Editorial Board).

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
We were thrilled to support the data-themed issue of Public Libraries this fall. MEAC’s liaisons – Sara Goek and Katina Jones – are fabulous to work with. They do a great job balancing the needs of the profession with the sustainability of data products. We appreciate the opportunity to continue MEAC’s good work as an advisory group.

Submitted by Jerianne Thompson, Dan Hensley on 01/09/2024

The group met 2-3 times this reporting period.

After reviewing the current PLA Strategic Plan, please tell us:

Describe the current work of this committee and how it supports our strategic goals. Include work accomplished, decisions made, and any recommended follow-up actions.
The Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment Committee (MEAC) has four major areas of work, with members participating in subcommittees to support each area.

Project Outcome

MEAC assists PLA with supporting user engagement and developing new resources for the Project Outcome toolkit to meet the evolving needs of the field. During the reporting period, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were integrated within Project Outcome. Subcommittee members developed a resource for Project Outcome users explaining SDGs, their significance, and how to apply them to surveys. Committee members supported staff in the presentation of a webinar about the SDGs’ integration and how to leverage evaluative efforts.

The committee also provided support to PLA staff responsible for conducting a survey of Project Outcome’s 19,000+ users this Spring. Survey results will inform future improvements to the product.

Case Studies

The Case Studies subcommittee facilitates the writing of case studies for PLA’s data tools. The subcommittee is developing new case studies, including interviewing a public library director to inform a Project Outcome case study, with another in development focused on using Project Outcome while assessing community needs and strategic planning.

Subcommittee members provided feedback on case studies for Benchmark recently developed by capstone project students from the University of Washington, covering use cases for public and academic libraries. The subcommittee is considering the creation of guidelines and/or an interview form to improve and speed the process of compiling case studies.

Benchmark

MEAC supports PLA by advising the development of the Benchmark tool and by helping to develop resources to encourage libraries to engage in benchmarking practices. With the product successfully launched, MEAC has focused on efforts to improve usability and increase adoption.

In the past year, subcommittee members have given input on marketing efforts, including helping to identify audiences, giving feedback on messaging, and to promote adoption of Benchmark within our own networks.

The committee also provided support to PLA staff responsible for product development. The subcommittee provided detailed feedback about the design of the tool to inform regularly scheduled development of Benchmark. MEAC members also participated in a University of Michigan student-led user testing for Benchmark directly and also indirectly by connecting potential participants to the consulting group. Committee members also drafted descriptive subtitles to help guide users to different sections of the site.

PLA Topical Surveys

The Topical Surveys subcommittee assists PLA staff with the development, testing, and reporting of new annual topical surveys administered via Benchmark. Subcommittee members provide support from the field, with a focus on helping to boost response rates, giving input on the previous year’s survey report, and helping to develop the current year survey.

The subcommittee members promoted the 2022 survey, Services for Strong Communities, to their professional networks, which contributed to a strong response rate. Once the survey closed, members reviewed preliminary data to provide input about the results, including recommendations for focus areas for the Results for Action sections of the upcoming survey report. MEAC members will also help PLA staff present the survey results in a session at ALA Annual in June and at a free webinar in July.

The 2023 survey will update the 2020 Library Technology Survey, and so subcommittee members have been active in helping PLA staff clarify and refine the language used in the instrument, while avoiding any changes that would compromise our ability to compare data over time.

Do you see opportunities to better align committee work with those goals?
MEAC members have much expertise and experience to contribute to the PLA's strategic goals. Below are some growth areas that we plan to pursue in the 2023-24 committee year.

Professional Growth

The members of MEAC bring a wealth of experience as well as specialized knowledge of library metrics, performance evaluation, and the use of data for planning and advocacy. We will continue to encourage members to seek opportunities to contribute that expertise to learning and conversations within the field and to support the development of PLA’s data-related training and resources.

Advocacy and Awareness

MEAC members are very invested in the success of PLA’s data projects – these tools provide considerable value to the profession, and contribute to the sustainability of PLA’s efforts to bring data-informed practices to the field. Members will continue to seek opportunities to increase uptake of PLA data projects such as Benchmark and Project Outcome through case studies, education, and promotion to our networks. These resources will expand the ability of library staff and leaders to communicate the impact and value of libraries to local stakeholders and beyond.

Transformation

Members of MEAC are a good cross-section of the field, with representation from public libraries, state library agencies, and the private sector, as well as a variety of regions. MEAC will apply these perspectives to the data projects that we support to identify emerging needs in the field. The Library Services for Strong Communities data in particular will provide a good benchmark for action toward evolving services. Working with the PLA data products, MEAC members will contribute to identification of trends in public library services and development of resources to support responsiveness to community needs.

Organizational Excellence

PLA’s Organizational Excellence goals are reflected in the quality of products offered in the field, and MEAC contributes to those products. MEAC will continue to work closely with our incredible staff members to support the further development of the Benchmark product, as well as to advocate for increased adoption of data-informed practices that are supported by PLA’s products, educational opportunities and publications.

EDISJ

MEAC will make every effort to apply an EDISJ lens to all of our work, helping to ensure that data is gathered responsibly and that necessary context is provided when we present data that can illustrate the field’s important, foundational efforts to make the field as equitable as possible. For example, the MEAC was very involved in the design, execution, and publication of the 2021 Staff and Diversity Survey and the accompanying report from 2022; these efforts reflect an important contribution to the field’s EDISJ work.

What recommendations do you have for in-coming committee members? Are there particular streams of
work in progress to be carried over into the new committee year? (January–June reporting period only)
In our welcome message to incoming committee members, MEAC Co-chairs encouraged our new members to take some time to become familiar with PLA’s data projects, and to begin to think about which subcommittee assignments would be of interest.

Much of our work is ongoing, and so MEAC will have a considerable number of in-progress projects as we move into the new committee year. The agenda for the June full committee meeting may include reviewing and promoting updates to Benchmark, preparations to publish the results of the 2022 Services for Strong Communities survey, and preparation to launch and publicize the 2023 Library Technology Survey.

What specific activities will this committee undertake over the next six months to support that alignment? (July–December reporting period only)

Are there other PLA or ALA committees whose partnership and collaboration would accelerate meeting PLA strategic goals?
During the past year, MEAC members found many parallels between our work and the work of two ACRL committees that have a similar charge – Project Outcome for Academic Libraries Editorial Board and Academic Library Trends and Survey Editorial Board. We hope to connect with these colleagues in the coming year to learn from their work and potentially collaborate on our related projects.

Is there anything else about your committee experience you’d like to share?
We would like to express our gratitude and admiration for our hard-working, brilliant staff liaisons Sara Goek and Katina Jones. They are truly a pleasure to work with, provide us with so much guidance, and make a huge impact with their work.

Submitted by Jerianne Thompson, Daniel Hensley on 06/06/2023