Paul Roback, Community Development Educator

The West Bend Community Memorial Library’s Outreach Librarian contacted Paul to facilitate a process that would engage staff in determining a future direction and focus for outreach programming. As part of this process, staff wanted to gain an understanding of demographic trends that could provide insights into future programming. Paul had previously facilitated the library’s strategic planning process in 2022 and this request aligns with the implementation of the plan.

In response, Paul researched and presented demographic data on Washington County and the City of West Bend. Then he facilitated a process that allowed staff to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of current outreach programming. Paul will facilitate a future meeting to review, discuss, and prioritize future programming with consideration of current and future resources.

As a result of Paul’s facilitation, 100% of participants (N=5) strongly agreed that the census presentation increased their understanding of West Bend’s demographics. Additionally, 100% agreed that the session assisted in the identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of their outreach programming. Overall, participants evaluated Paul’s facilitation 5.0 on a 5-point Likert Scale (1=poor and 5=excellent). One participant commented that the meeting was a “Great start to a complex matter.” Another commented that Paul has a “Great ability to grasp individual meaning and rephrase to make it work for this process.”