Data Module: Curating Data to Enhance Public Library Effectiveness

Abstract

This report describes four datasets, variables used from each, and how variables were selected for inclusion in the dataset entitled "Public Library Services, Programs, and Outreach, United States, 2015-2023." We also describe how the four datasets are related. We recommend aggregating and linking disparate demographic, input, output, and outcome data from 1) the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2) the Institute of Museum and Library Services Public Libraries Survey, 3) the Public Library Association’s Project Outcome toolkit, and 4) a national survey by the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services that complements its Bookmobile and Outreach Information Repository. We make recommendations for aggregating and linking datasets based on feedback we received from an advisory committee. We describe the recommendation process to enable data curators at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research to create a one-of-a-kind dataset and help library researchers replicate our process elsewhere.