Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on recent performance measurement and impact evaluation progress made in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Moldova, Turkey and Vietnam as part of the last phase of the Global Libraries Initiative. Design/methodology/approach The country reports are presented as a series of case studies, in some cases supplementing those reported earlier in this journal. Findings Recent country-specific survey findings are reported and some conclusions are offered. Research limitations/implications This paper demonstrates how the adoption of a common approach to library service evaluation across several countries can strengthen research practice at country level beyond the Global Libraries Initiative itself. Practical implications This paper shares Global Libraries IPA learning at country level with people in other countries who may be contemplating public library evaluation at regional, national or local levels or who are interested in performance measurement and impact evaluation. Social implications The paper shows how focusing on the impact of public library services on users can enhance the understanding of community requirements and inform the development of more effective services to library users and communities. Originality/value These case studies reflect concentrated impact evaluation and performance measurement work at country level across a range of countries over more than 18 years.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report a range of innovative approaches, methods and tools for evaluating the impact of public libraries and supporting the development of library leaders drawn from projects supported by the Global Libraries initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Design/methodology/approach A range of approaches, tools and methods are described by specialist staff who were directly involved with these innovations. Findings Some comments are provided on the effectiveness of these innovations. Research limitations/implications All of these innovations have been tried out in public library settings, usually over a period of years. Practical implications All of the selected innovations could be adapted and used by library leaders or impact specialists. Social implications Several of the innovations are specifically designed to engage library staff and users in evaluation processes. Originality/value The impact planning and assessment programme of GL was the largest sustained international public library evaluation programme so far attempted. This paper reports on the more innovative evaluation activities undertaken through this programme.

In this work, we synthesize 27 emerging research studies and standards to develop a resource that highlights accessibility risks of new design concepts. Prior studies have identified key factors that influence packaging accessibility: we summarize major themes and validate our findings through a Human Factors usability study. Results suggest that the design comparison tool can contribute to more accessible packaging, yielding a statistically significant difference in participants’ preference rankings. While existing methodologies evaluate a package’s accessibility at the final stages of the development process, this work suggests that usability problems can be surfaced as early as design conceptualization.