The development of an evaluation and information system for Italian libraries is an essential step to ensure the effective planning of cultural policies. The systematic gathering of data on libraries in Italy has an impact that extends beyond librarianship and concerns the evaluation of public policies.
To this day, Italian libraries have yet to adopt a uniform detection model. It concerns the possibilities for libraries to affirm their role and importance. In the past years, other cultural organizations (museums, universities, ecc.) have started to develop indicators to measure their economic and non economic impact in different socioeconomic settings. In parallel, UN SDGs have started to be discussed, as current development models based on massive exploitation of resources is increasingly proving unbearable. In such a context, libraries have been quite prudent in embracing change, but they risk to be marginalized in public opinion and in public resources allocation, precisely when they are increasingly important for a changing society.
At the moment, different models have produced a bluured picture as regards services and impact of libraries in Italy. This makes it impossible to collect data for all libraries, leading to some dangerous distortions: the most evident is the lack of repercussions in terms of the social impact of Italian libraries within the framework of the ISTAT Report on Equitable and Sustainable Wellbeing (BES).
The aim of "Data-Driven Libraries" Project is: 1) to develop a tool-kit for monitoring library inputs, outputs and outcomes; 2) to support the implementation of the integrated information system of the places of culture; 3) the planning of outcome indicators as part of BES indicators of ISTAT coherent with SDGs.
This task represents the natural continuation of the ties of collaboration which the PI has established in 2017 with ISTAT through the project "Design Study for the Statistical Representation of the Library Network in Italy".
The "Data-Driven Libraries" project seeks to promote the evaluation and circulation of data on the impact of libraries in order to correct possible distortions in terms of public policies. One example of such distortions is the almost complete absence of libraries in ISTAT's Report on Equitable and Sustainable Well-Being (Rapporto sul benessere equo e sostenibile, BES): a particularly dangerous oversight, considering that these well-being indicators have been adopted for economic policy planning, in accordance with the reform of the Budget Law of September 2016.
The BES Report lists only one indicator for libraries: "Current pro-capita municipal public expenditure for the management of cultural heritage", within the Landscape and Cultural Heritage domain. This input indicator measures the expenditure for the promotion of cultural assets. No indicator is provided for the outputs, outcomes, and results produced by libraries: we find no trace of the involvement and cultural development of citizens, of their social cohesion and inclusion, of the role played by libraries in relation to the ongoing eduction of citizens (Faggiolani 2016; 2017).
The reason for this is that there are no integrated, stable and ongoing surveys capable of demonstrating the value of libraries: surveys that through a solid mapping of the services offered by libraries are capable of monitoring their use and their impact on users.
Therefore, the establishment of an evaluation and information system for Italian libraries is a necessary step in order to ensure the effective planning of cultural policies.
What are required are shared models, common practices, and tools that have been tried and tested, and which make evaluation possible for large structures but also small ones, which are often the only cultural facilities in their areas. Only in such a way will it be possible to show how and to what extent libraries contribute to improving people's lives (individual impact), something which also brings cultural, social and economic advantages for communities (social impact).
This is consistent with the work being done internationally with respect to the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs. Libraries can be key institutions for achieving the Goals. In the UN 2030 Agenda, access to information has been recognised as a target under SDG 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (Target 16.10).
Culture (target 11.4) and ICT (targets 5b, 9c, 17.8) have also been included in the SDGs.
The project, therefore, promises to have a range of repercussions and a broad impact:
1. Potential applications: it is conceived as an applied research project for the development and implementation of the ICCU register of Italian libraries as an information system for libraries throughout Italy;
2. Social impact: libraries are avenues for increasing people's quality of life and for the social transfer of capabilities (Sen, 1980); they are cultural and social facilities in some areas, the only available ones. As is widely known, in Italy there is a significant educational gap, particularly as regards continuing education (lifelong learning) (Solimine, 2014). Given how widespread they are, libraries can strategically contribute to bridging this gap.
3.Transparency and horizontal subsidiarity: transparency lies at the basis of the whole reform of administrative procedures, which has been integrated today by texts confirming the importance for citizens to be able to access information from the public administration and by the eGovernment Code (Codice dell'Amministrazione Digitale, CAD). In particular, this reform focuses on the sharing of information at a digital level and on increasing citizen participation via ICT. The wide-scale application of the project could significantly contribute to the implementation of the above-mentioned laws, by improving the general evaluation of the performance of the public administrations involved in the library sector.
4. Institutional: the project foresees close collaboration with two leading public institutions: a) ISTAT: official statistics crucially help institutions determine their priorities and serve as an impartial tool for understanding and decision-making. b) The ICCU, which manages the register of Italian libraries, a general and regularly updated information tool on Italian libraries.
These collaborations not only confirm the legitimacy of the project's aims, but are justified by the shared need to avoid wasting resources and duplicating aims. This will be the first project to entail a formal collaboration between ISTAT, a leading institution of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, and a university department, in order to develop an information system for investigating, monitoring and promoting cultural services and activities in Italy.