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The purpose of this paper is to describe developments and results of the Glob@l Libraries – Bulgaria (GLB) project.

This is an analysis of the results of the assessment of the impact of the Glob@l Libraries – Bulgaria (GLB) project so far among the public libraries of Bulgaria.

The findings described are not surprising, although the most striking are two facts concerning the population – the high level of computer and internet usage among the population from different age groups and types of settlement; and that the majority of computer and internet users are not able to create content using software and the low level of information literacy associated with finding trusted information on the internet. These two facts suggest the niche for the modern public library in Bulgaria as a centre not just providing books but more intensive training and consultation for different target groups of users.

The paper presents a wide range of improvement examples that can be easily transferred to other countries.

As more countries have joined the Global Libraries (GL) Initiative, the IPA Specialists have gradually evolved into a cohesive team that finds opportunities to meet fairly regularly. Their discussions about the practicalities and challenges of conducting IPA at the country level have drawn attention to a number of issues that are likely to be relevant to other IPA specialists working in similar roles in other countries and to library service managers who are interested in impact evaluation. This paper aims to summarise some of the collective experiences.

Several of the IPA Specialists have “adopted” an issue. Some describe their own country approach to the topic; others have been more analytical in their presentations.

Opinions and findings about four topics are described. They are: sharing learning within the country and sharing beyond that country; ensuring that IPA evidence reflects government and international priorities, and finally combining qualitative and quantitative evidence‐forming strategic collaborations and telling stories.

The value of the paper lies in informing other IPA specialists in similar roles in other countries, and library service managers who are interested in impact evaluation.

The purpose of this paper is to report on performance measurement and impact assessment progress made in 14 countries as part of the Global Libraries initiative, starting with the early country grants in Mexico and Chile. For the mature grants in Bulgaria, Botswana, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Viet Nam which were recently completed or are approaching completion, the nature of the country program is outlined, before the impact assessment work is described and some recent results and conclusions are reported. A similar approach is adopted with pilot and new grants in Colombia, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey and Lithuania.

The country reports are presented as a series of case studies, in some cases supplementing those in an earlier special issue of this journal.

Where appropriate, recent country-specific survey findings are reported.

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 level or who are interested in performance measurement and impact evaluation.

These cases studies reflect concentrated impact assessment and performance measurement work at country level across a range of countries over more than 12 years.