Baltimore Library Evaluation & Toolkit
Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation & Baltimore City Public Schools
The Context
Started in 2011, the Baltimore Library Project is a public-philanthropic partnership between The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Baltimore City Public Schools, and more than 30 community and government partners. Through elementary and middle school library renovations and the staffing of libraries with full-time, certified library media specialists, the project works “to build or transform Baltimore City Public School libraries in neighborhoods where many students face academic and economic challenges.”
Grounded in evaluation efforts completed during the initial years of the Baltimore Library Project, the Foundation sought an evaluation partner to more deeply examine best practices in implementation as well as lessons learned from the public-philanthropic funding model. In 2021, Sharp Insight teamed up with Baltimore City Public Schools and the Weinberg Foundation to achieve this vision.
Our Approach
The Sharp Insight team led a multi-study evaluation to meet the needs of the Foundation and City Schools. Part I sought to understand the implementation of best practices in Library Project schools using site visits, focus groups, and interviews with Library Project schools and comparison schools that had similar resources and student profiles. Part II focused on a case study of Library Project financing which was developed using a literature review and semi-structured interviews. Grounded in Sharp Insight’s approach to evaluation, key components of this work included:
Using research evidence to guide the evaluation: The project began with a literature review of best practices in school libraries and a scan of capital improvement processes in schools. This evidence base grounded the research team in the extant literature and informed the design of both studies and tool development, and allowed for meaningful contextualization of the findings.
Valuing the voices of multiple interest holders: The project was carried out with support from an evaluation team comprised of Foundation staff, City Schools representatives, district parents, school administrators, and school librarians. Evaluation team feedback was incorporated into the final evaluation tools (e.g., site visit rubric, interview guides) and their expertise and lived experience provided valuable context in the data analysis and interpretation stages.
Creating and disseminating meaningful results: Each of the final deliverables was developed with the intent to share them with the public. All parties involved were committed to creating legacy products that could guide other school districts and philanthropic partners who may want to replicate the Baltimore Library Project’s model. You can explore each of these materials in The Results section below.
The Result
The evaluation highlighted the successful funding model used in the Baltimore Library Project, demonstrated the ways that the Project is making positive contributions to schools, and identified leverage points for bolstering the Project’s impact, particularly by focusing on library staffing. The three final evaluation deliverables are available on the Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project website, or click on the images below to read more.
