The WiLS Data Classroom is a library data-focused professional development cohort that runs for six months to boost participants’ data skills by helping them make meaningful use of data and create compelling data-informed stories about their organizations. As part of the experience, participants have the option to develop a real-world research project to work through in tandem with the curriculum. As part of the Data Projects from the WiLS Community series, we will be showcasing some of these projects in more detail to help inspire and inform other members and their data work.
Ashlee Kunkel (Milton Public Library) and Beth Krebs-Smith (Edgerton Public Library) were both participants in the 2025-2026 cohort of Data Classroom, where they collaborated on a joint programming-focused project. This partnership began from a number of broad questions they both had about programming at their libraries:
- How does programming impact circulation?
- What is the “right” amount of programming for a library to provide?
- How can you demonstrate the value of programming to a variety of audiences?
Ashlee and Beth began to identify what data they had and what data they might collect. While each library put their own unique spin on the final data collection plan, they ended up gathering overlapping data for a one-month period with a specific focus on tracking the time spent by staff planning, preparing for, and implementing programs, as well as the number of attendees.
With this data in hand and access to existing data on library visits and FTEs, Ashlee and Beth were able to calculate a number of programming-related metrics, including:
- Average Number of Program Attendees to understand how well events are attended on average.
- Number of Program Attendees per Hour Spent on Programming to track the number of hours spent on planning, prep, and implementing a program and gain a more holistic idea of how many attendees (and library visits!) were gained from that work.
- Percentage of Library Visits Generated by Programming to provide insight into the relationship between programming and visits.
- FTEs Dedicated to Programming to understand how much time was spent by staff on programming-related activities relative to the total number of library FTEs.
With all this information, Ashlee and Beth were able to not only provide their own libraries with this data, but they were also able to compare and contrast between their two libraries, which serve differently sized communities. This highlighted some interesting preliminary findings! For example, their libraries’ Percentage of Library Visits Generated by Programming, even with very different base numbers, were within 2% of each other at 22% and 24%.
This information helps craft a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between programming, staff time, program attendance, and library visits. Armed with this knowledge, Ashlee and Beth’s libraries can make more informed decisions about programming in the future.
Questions about WiLS Data Classroom? Read more about the program or connect with Kim Kiesewetter at kim@wils.org.
