Education Program Specialist ; Research and Data Coordinator

Introduction

The Maryland State Library Agency (MSLA) ensures all Marylanders have access to outstanding services and welcoming, innovative spaces by administering state and federal funding, empowering library professionals through certification and training programs, and facilitating collaboration across public, school and academic libraries. The Research and Data Coordinator leads and oversees the state public library statistics program including directing and coordinating the public library annual report process and managing other surveys to collect library statistics and other required information.

21

Maryland State Library Agency Headquarters

25 South Charles Street Suite

1310

Baltimore, MD 21201

This position develops, collects, manages, analyzes, interprets, and disseminates public library statistics in order to provide information about public libraries at the local, state, and national levels, as well as to demonstrate the impacts of public libraries to communities, organizations, and government agencies. This position provides guidance, consultation, and support to internal and external stakeholders working with public library statistics and data requirements.

Promotes and encourages the use of collected statistics by the state’s public libraries for management and budget purposes and services development.

• Functions as Maryland’s State Data Coordinator (SDC) and works with other SDCs in order to develop and implement national public library statistics initiatives.
• Directs the public library annual report process by designing the report, generating state level data elements, and implementing national data elements.
• Collects, cleans, submits and analyzes data submitted to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Public Library Survey.
• Coordinates ongoing evaluation of the Agency’s Five-year plan.
• Develops, designs, and manages other regular surveys and ad hoc surveys as necessary to gather information from public libraries.
• Analyzes, compares, and interprets public library data and aggregates local library data for use by MSLA staff, public libraries, state and federal agencies, and the general public.
• Fulfills statistics requests from MSLA administrative and department staff, other state agencies, public libraries, boards of trustees, and other user groups, creating and providing data to stakeholders in support of decision-making, budgeting, and reporting.
• Plans, organizes, and conducts special research projects to meet state library needs.
• Guides and engages in collaboration and provides consultation, guidance, and support regarding public library statistics to public library directors and other administrators, business managers, library staff, MSLA coworkers, State Data Coordinator colleagues, and other external stakeholders.
• Advises and assists libraries in the development of library statistics collection processes, analysis, reporting, and use. Manages the MDLIBSTAT listserv, coordinates statistics working groups, to increase input and communication between vested data partners.
• Works with MSLA and public library staff to analyze data needs and propose and assist in designing solutions.
• Trains public library directors and other library staff regarding data collection and reporting in order to facilitate accurate and consistent annual report submissions.
• Conducts research using external (including non-library) data sources to identify and report on trends, topics of interest for external communication.
• Provides reports to Agency, Library and external stakeholders on issues impacting and/or related to library services.
• Provide consultation and support to Staff Development Coordinators regarding the certification of library associates, professional librarians and public library directors.
• Serves as liaison between the library systems and Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE).
• Maintain the MSLA Certification Lib Guide and assure it is up to date.
• Serve as communications liaison with the Library Associates Training Institute (LATI) Coordinator and library systems about LATI staff participation.
• Serve as program…