Cosla Inc

In Recent Years Concerns From the Library Field Have Emerged With the Proliferation of Surveys Aiming to Gather Timely, Reliable, Comparable and Meaningful Data on Public Libraries. Primary Among Them Are That the Burden of Increased Data Collection Is Beyond the Capacity of Many Libraries, That Efforts Are Not Coordinated, and That the Data Collected Does Not Reflect the Needs nor Tell the Story of Libraries in the 21ST Century. There Is No Overarching National Plan for the Collection, Storage, Use and Dissemination of Public Library Data and Service Outcomes. Cosla Proposes a Cooperative Agreement With Imls to Build Bridges Between Current Data Collection Activities to Ensure Sustainability and Long-term Access, to Resolve Concerns Related to Duplication of Efforts and to Create a Comprehensive and Cooperative Approach to Library Data That Addresses the Importance of Outcomes in Addition to Outputs and Indicators.