By Peter Haxton
I know barely a day goes by when librarians around the state don’t ask themselves, “I wonder what new and exciting library statistics the State Data Center has!” Well, happily, your wait is over.
I’ll start with the good news.
The 2008 ILL statistics are now posted on the SDC website. The summary and alpha-by-library reports have been posted. By the beginning of June, reports by system will be available. Also on the SDC website, the Public Library Statistics profile has been updated with 2007/2008 data.
Speaking of 2008 data, the 2008 Public Library Survey data has been posted on the SLK website.
Now for the bad, er, other news:
The 2009 Public Library Statistics Survey will have two new and exciting data elements! In order to better describe the services provided by libraries, information on young adult programs and attendance will be added to the survey. For the purposes of the survey, “young adults” are those patrons 11-18 years of age and “children” are 11 and under.
Now, I know we are nearly halfway through the year, but please begin collecting this information for the 2009 survey. Feel free to estimate the last five months if you can, if not, don’t worry about it. Consider this the practice year for these questions, and 2010 will be “for real.”
If you have any questions about the statistics, the new elements, or anything else, please feel free to call me (785) 296-2008 or email phaxton@kslib.info.