Dear Colleauges,

The New Jersey State Library convened the Academy of Library Leadership last year. Each month for nine months we invited a different speaker to address 30 participants about aspects of librarianship, management, and leadership. One of the speakers who received the highest ratings was Professor Kristin Fontichiaro from the University of Michigan Library School who showed participants how to conduct a community needs assessment.

Professor Fontichiaro is offering the New Jersey library community a fabulous opportunity. She will select proposals to have her students conduct a community profile for your library – free! (Community size is limited to fewer than 25,000.)

All the information you need is below. I hope some of you will take advantage of this stellar opportunity.

Peggy Cadigan
Deputy State Librarian for Innovation
New Jersey State Library
pcadigan@PROTECTED
609-278-2640 x113

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The University of Michigan School of Information is seeking proposals for a fall course titled Engaging with Communities, with Professor Kristin Fontichiaro.

 

In this class, students will research and create a community profile based on an information need stated by your organization. Let our students research your community’s Census, demographic, consumer, and economic data, conduct some interviews, and deliver results to you. This information can help you with strategic planning and grantwriting – plus, our students can sometimes ask the questions that you can’t!

 

We are specifically looking for cities, libraries, or non-profits in communities under 25,000 people. The student's must be able to do research based on a community with a defined geographic area (defined by zip codes, census data, etc). This project is conducted virtually, and is of no charge to your organization.

 

Our courses are also seeking remote/virtual opportunities for students to:

• Provide user experience and design recommendations for websites, apps, and software
• Gather, manipulate, and analyze data
• Analyze or develop guidelines for online communities
• Establish and maintain internal library systems or archival collections

 

For additional examples of work that can be performed by students, please visit umsi.info/clientopportunities. You will find full project descriptions and project examples that demonstrate the value of UMSI students’ work.

 

To propose a project, please fill out this brief interest form by Wednesday, July 31. Requests submitted after this date will still be considered. A member of our team will follow up within a week with additional information on next steps. If you have any questions please email umsi.client.engagement@PROTECTED.

 

We encourage you to share this email with others who might be interested in this opportunity.

 

Sincerely,

Alissa Talley-Pixley
Assistant Director, Office of Professional and Community Engagement

UMSI Client Engagement
University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI)
Office of Professional and Community Engagement
777 N. University Ave., Suite 200
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1611
umsi.client.engagement@PROTECTED | http://www.si.umich.edu