Public Library Directors: Does your library provide virtual storytime programs now or since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic? Would you be interested in being part of a research study to identify the ways that virtual storytimes are supporting families with young children and also addressing larger community needs? A team of researchers from the University of Kentucky School of Information Science is seeking participants for an IMLS-funded Public Library Virtual Storytimes: Meeting School Readiness and Community Needs through a Socially Distant Approach project. We hope to include 27 public libraries, 3 from each of nine regions in the country. In order to have a sufficient sample, your willingness to participate is important to us. If you would be interested in having your library participate, please respond to this electronic questionnaire which will take about 3 minutes to complete: https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0SoJiuwF6MNyXSm To ensure your response will be included, please complete the electronic survey/questionnaire by February 22, 2022. Sample selection process:
From the responses, we will draw a stratified random sample based upon region, population of the legal service area, rural/urban designation, as well as economic status of the community and broadband availability. If your library system is selected, we will contact you via email to seek formal approval via a signed letter, and we will send an email message and consent form that we will ask you to share with all virtual storytime providers in your system. If more than four virtual storytime providers from your system agree to participate, we will randomly select four to include in the study. If no virtual storytime providers from your system agree to participate, we will select another library system.
Participation components: As part of the investigation, at each participating library, we intend to: * observe (and electronically capture) four virtual storytime programs; * virtually interview one virtual storytime provider; * request that the adult caregivers complete a brief online survey; * virtually interview at least one caregiver-child dyad; Additionally, at three participating libraries, we will collaborate with library administrators and a community organization/agency to solicit virtual interviews with child-caregiver dyads who do not participate in virtual storytime programs. Benefits of participation: Although the library will not get individual benefit from taking part in this research study nor will individual participants, participation may help us understand more about the value of public library virtual storytimes and the ways in which they meet the needs of families with young children. As a token of appreciation for participation, we will offer a $100 payment to all library systems that are selected and participate in the full study. Additionally, we will offer a $50 gift card to an online book seller to each librarian whom we interview and each caregiver-child dyad whom we interview. Risks: To the best of our knowledge, there are no known risks to participating in this study. Storytime providers and participants might feel uncomfortable being observed and interviewed or might be concerned about the recordings being shared with other people. We have procedures for securing and preventing unauthorized access to the data that we are collecting. Only authorized researchers for this project who have signed an agreement to maintain privacy and confidentiality will have access to the data we collect. Please be aware, while we make every effort to safeguard your data once received from the online survey company, given the nature of online surveys, as with anything involving the Internet, we can never guarantee the confidentiality of the data while still on the survey/data gathering company's servers, or while en route to either them or us. It is also possible the raw data collected for research purposes may be used for marketing or reporting purposes by the survey/data gathering company after the research is concluded, depending on the company's Terms of Service and Privacy policies. If you have questions about the study, please feel free to ask; my contact information is given below. If you have complaints, suggestions, or questions about your rights as a research volunteer, contact the staff in the University of Kentucky Office of Research Integrity at 859-257-9428 or toll-free at 1-866-400-9428. Thank you in advance for your assistance with this important project. Sincerely, Maria Cahill, PhD School of Information Science, University of Kentucky PHONE: 859-218-2293 E-MAIL: maria.cahill@uky.edu<mailto:maria.cahill@uky.edu> [cid:image001.png@01D81CE9.95F21E60] Maria Cahill, PhD Associate Professor University of Kentucky School of Information Science, College of Communication and Information Educational Leadership Studies, College of Education Lexington, KY 40506 859-218-2293<tel:859-218-2293> maria.cahill@uky.edu<mailto:maria.cahill@uky.edu>
