NASA@ My Library Portal to the Public Network Evaluation Report

With funding from the NASA Science Activation program, the Space Science Institute (SSI) launched NASA@ My Library in 2016. The vision of NASA@ My Library was to help public libraries and state library agencies increase NASA and STEM learning opportunities for library patrons throughout the U.S., including those in geographic areas and populations currently underserved in STEM education. SSI worked closely with its partners, including the American Library Association (ALA), Cornerstones of Science (CoS), the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), and the Pacific Science Center’s Portal to the Public Network (PoPNet).

Education Development Center (EDC) conducted the external evaluation of NASA@ My Library. This evaluation report describes findings regarding the PoPNet effort that took place from October 2018 to May 2019. The PoPNet leadership team at Pacific Science Center supported five PoPNet sites as they recruited and trained scientists to present virtually at NASA@ My Library libraries in their region. Evaluation activities included surveys of PoPNet site representatives, scientists, librarians, and patrons as well as “virtual” site visits (where an evaluator joined the online meeting to observe six programs), interviews with a sample of librarians, and review of other project documents.