Global Libraries impact planning and assessment progress

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on performance measurement and impact assessment progress made in 14 countries as part of the Global Libraries initiative, starting with the early country grants in Mexico and Chile. For the mature grants in Bulgaria, Botswana, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Viet Nam which were recently completed or are approaching completion, the nature of the country program is outlined, before the impact assessment work is described and some recent results and conclusions are reported. A similar approach is adopted with pilot and new grants in Colombia, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey and Lithuania. Design/methodology/approach – The country reports are presented as a series of case studies, in some cases supplementing those in an earlier special issue of this journal. Findings – Where appropriate, recent country-specific survey findings are reported. Practical implications – This paper shares Global Libraries IPA learning at country level with people in other countries who may be contemplating public library evaluation at regional, national or local level or who are interested in performance measurement and impact evaluation. Originality/value – These cases studies reflect concentrated impact assessment and performance measurement work at country level across a range of countries over more than 12 years.