New Measures for Public Libraries

Robert E. Molyneux

Introduction

Some of the oldest numbers we have as a species are library numbers but from the beginning, it has been hard to say exactly what these numbers measure. For instance, what is a "volume"? How would we compare today's volume counts with counts of scrolls in the library of Alexandria? To compound the problem, for at least the last twenty years that I am aware of—and probably much longer—there has been a din of complaints that the bulk of the data we collect on libraries in the various surveys linked to on the US Library Data Sources and Analysis page do not measure libraries well. Over the years, these complaints have said that these traditional measures only measure "inputs" into libraries, not the "outputs" from those libraries. Recently, policy questions have focussed on "outcomes"—what are the results that we get from the dollars we spend on libraries? What difference do they make to a community? There are efforts afoot that will result in useful work in measuring public libraries in useful and non-traditional ways. I hope to read these articles soon.

This question not only involves designing, testing, and collecting new measures but also combining data from different sources or using traditional data in new ways. By agreement, this page is focussed on public libraries although I plan to delve into what ARL is doing just to see where they are. For instance, LibQUAL is one of ARL's New Measures Initiatives and it has been used by a few public libraries. Also, I understand, they have attempted to compare LibQUAL results with traditional measures which comparison is a necessary step in the process of testing these new measures.

Books

• Nancy A. Van House, et al. Output Measures for Public Libraries: a Manual of Standardized Procedures, 2nd (Chicago: ALA, 1987).
• Sandra Nelson, The New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach(Chicago: ALA, 2001).
• Thomas J. Hennen Jr., Public Library Planning Process: A Manual and Interactive CD-ROM, (New York: Neal-Schuman, 2004). ISBN: 1555704875.
• Joe Matthews, Measuring for Results: The Dimensions of Public Library Effectiveness (Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2004). ISBN: 1591581001.
• Joan C. Durrance and Karen E. Fisher with Marian Bouch Hinton. How Libraries and Librarians Help: A Guide to Identifying User-Centered Outcomes (Chicago: ALA Editions, 2005). ISBN: 0838908926.
• Donald S. Elliott, Glen E. Holt, Sterling W. Hayden, and Leslie Edmunds Holt, Measuring Your Library's Value, (Chicago: ALA, 2007).

Articles Measuring Libraries in New Ways

• Debra G. Warner, “A New Classification for Reference Statistics” Reference & User Services Quarterly, v. 41, no. 1. (Fall 2001): 51-55.

Websites

• Bix-Bibliotheksindex
  • An index that seems to be based on the "Balanced Scorecard". 200+ German public libraries are scored. It has been going on for a few years and looks mature from what I can tell.
• Carlsbad City Library: Balanced Scorecard for Public Libraries. “A Two-Year Project Awarded to the Carlsbad City Library Funded by the Institute of Museums and Library Services.” This is Joe Matthew's study.
• GeoLib combines geographic information with data from Census and library data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
• Counting on Results
  • A “nationwide examination of the impact of public library services on individual patrons”. “This project built upon the Public Library Association's Planning for Results (PfR) model by designing data collection tools for six CoR service responses that were derived from nine of PfR's thirteen service responses...”
• Hennen's American Public Library Ratings—traditional measures used in several different ways for decision making.
• (IBEC) Information Behavior in Everyday Contexts
  • The team has a number of members, the two project leaders are Karen Fisher and Joan Durrance, authors of How Libraries and Librarians Help, which is listed above.
• (QSAC) Quality Services Audit Checklist at the Library of Michigan.
• Sirsi's Normative Data Project press release and Website.

Impact of Libraries

• ALA's Articles and Studies Related to Library Value (Return on Investment)
• See Elliott, and others, under Books
• PriceWaterhouse Coopers for the Laser Foundation Libraries Impact Project (PDF), July 2005. 92 pp.
• A list at the Library Research Service on “Economic Impact of Library Services” has additional links to those here.
• Economic Benefits and Impacts From Public Libraries in the State of Florida a report to the State Library of Florida, November, 2000 (revised January, 2001) by Chuck McClure et al..
• Florida's Return on Investment Studies
  • Florida's Libraries Build Strong Economies: A Taxpayer Return on Investment Report (24 pages, PDF)
  • Taxpayer Return on Investment in Florida Public Libraries: Summary Report, September, 2004, by José-Marie Griffiths et al. (47 pages, PDF)
• South Carolina Public Library Economic Impact Study, January 2005, by Dan Barron, et al.
• New York's Libraries: How They STACK UP!. Adapted from OCLC's Libraries: How They Stack Up.

Information

• “Outcome Based Evaluation” from IMLS discusses OBE within the context of the Government Performances and Results Act of 1993 and how this affects IMLS funding of projects.
• “What is the Balanced Scorecard?” from the Balanced Scorecard Institute.

February 5, 2007