Session 8 - Evaluating the Library: Using Statistics

The public library, as a municipal agency, must be accountable to its funding bodies and to its community.  Measurement is a tool for understanding the community, the role of the library, and the effectiveness of library services and it is the primary way in which the library can demonstrate its accountability to its funding bodies and to its users.

In order to demonstrate active community use of the library, responsiveness to community needs, and operational efficiencies, the library needs to collect data on its operations.  Once collected, this data needs to be analyzed and clearly reported to funding authorities and citizens alike.  Within this process of data collection, many factors need to be considered, including:

• Why are statistics collected?  And how will they be used?
• Who will be/should be the audience for each report?
• Does the Board/staff understand why statistics are necessary?

This class session will explore methods of gauging public library effectiveness, methods such as using state standards, output measures and annual statistics.

Learning Objectives for Session 8:

• To understand the importance of statistics to evaluate the library's programs, services and collections
• To understand how to collect statistics uniformly and analyze the data
• To understand the following standards, as listed in In Service To Iowa:
  1. Standard 13 (p. 7)
  2. Standards 34-37 (p. 13-14)
  3. Standard 43 (p. 15)
  4. Standard 45 (p. 16)

Assignments for class:

• Reading assignment
• Written assignment - none assigned for this session
• Web board discussion questions