Focus Group Invitation for Public Library Workers

Posted by Bobbi Newman on March 2nd, 2018 Posted in: Public Libraries

This focus group is part of our ongoing partnership with the Public Library Association.

We are looking for public library workers to participate in virtual focus groups this spring. We’re looking for both paraprofessional and professional library workers. Would you or anyone on your staff be interested in participating?

The purpose of the research is to understand better the challenges and rewards of providing health information in public libraries. We are interested in library workers’ questions, experiences, concerns and success stories – it’s all useful to us!

The focus groups will happen by telephone and will last 1.5 hours; we are scheduling on all days of the week except Sundays. Audio tapes will be made of the groups, and only members of the study team will transcribe these audiotapes. No individual person or library will be identified in the transcripts or publications; individual speakers will be referred to as, for example, “Reference Assistant Kansas-1.” Participation will last approximately 1.5 hours. As a token of our appreciation, each participant will receive an Amazon gift card worth $25 (which can be donated to your library if employees are not permitted to be compensated).

If you can help us by participating, thank you!

To Sign Up, Please contact Catherine directly.

Catherine Arnott Smith
Preferred contact: Email: casmith24@wisc.edu
Office phone: 608-890-1334

Associate Professor,
The Information School
University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street Madison, WI 53706

Please do not hesitate to contact Catherine if you have any questions about this study.

ABOUT Bobbi Newman
Bobbi Newman (MLIS, MA) is the Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist for NNLM R6 at the University of Iowa. She is the author of Fostering Wellness in the Workplace: A Guide for Libraries. She developed the popular NNLM course “Wellness in the Library Workplace.” Bobbi is a mindfulness student and a member of Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH). She currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board for Let’s Move in Libraries. She divides her time between her dog, reading fantasy and nonfiction, playing video games, crafting, kayaking, biking, and gardening.

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