Gale Helps Yolo County Library Improve Public Service and Program Outcomes with Analytics On Demand
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. and WOODLAND, Calif. – December 18, 2018 – Data analytics has helped Yolo County Library improve program outcomes and services. The library is using Analytics On Demand from Gale, a Cengage company, to better understand the households in its communities and design customized library services and resources to fit their needs. Now, Yolo County librarians can make data-driven decisions to identify new outreach strategies that promote their programs to the communities they serve. Read Gale’s blog about Yolo County Library.
Yolo County Library has eight branches that serve more than 160,000 residents in seven communities and the rural areas of Yolo County in California’s Sacramento Valley. The library has been providing services to the county for more than 100 years. With a vision to bring diverse and dynamic programs and services to its many communities and residents, the library needed a more effective way to reach its underserved rural communities about its library offerings. Yolo County Library chose Gale’s Analytics On Demand, a data analytics tool that gives libraries key insights into the demographics and behaviors of their communities.
“We wanted to find ways to expand our service offerings that resonate with the community,” said Mark Fink, County Librarian and Chief Archivist at Yolo County Library. “Analytics On Demand gives us more personalized information into how people consume information, enabling us to tailor how we promote our library services and resources to members of the community.”
Analytics On Demand is a data intelligence solution that helps libraries quickly and easily learn more about their users and communities. It allows libraries to transform their existing data, from the ILS and other electronic systems, into information they can use to better understand—at the household level—who their customers are (and aren’t) so they can make data-driven decisions and drive meaningful outcomes for their library and community. With its new interactive dashboard, libraries can visualize demographic insights through maps, charts and graphs, helping librarians make more informed decisions to promote their services.
Using Analytics On Demand’s market segmentation profiles, Yolo County Library’s Esparto Regional Branch discovered that its community relies heavily on communicating in Spanish, are active on social media, receptive to email marketing, actively involved in their local churches and shop at the local Dollar General store. Armed with this data, Fink worked with the Esparto staff to expand the library’s programming priorities to include English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and conversation groups for Spanish-speaking caregivers that included child care and a meal. The program was promoted in English and Spanish on social media channels, in patron email communications, in local church bulletins and on flyers at the local Dollar General store. As a result, this custom-made program drew twice as many people as expected.
“Understanding how receptive our families are to different forms of marketing has made a big difference in how we promote and market our library resources and services, and what resources and services we actually offer,” said Fink. “Analytics On Demand has given us the ability to make data-driven decisions for program options to better serve our communities.”
Read the entire story or listen to the webcast about Yolo County Library’s success with Analytics On Demand.
About Cengage and Gale
Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. The company serves the higher education, K-12, professional, library and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, a Cengage company, provides libraries with original and curated content, as well as the modern research tools and technology that are crucial in connecting libraries to learning, and learners to libraries. For more than 60 years, Gale has partnered with libraries around the world to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights – where, when and how people need it. Gale has 500 employees globally with its main operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information, please visit www.gale.com.
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Media Contact:
Kayla Siefker, Gale, a Cengage company, 248-699-8456, [email protected]