Statistics and Evaluation Section
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

Last Thursday, on September 8th of this month,we received a valuable communication written by Mr. Tord Hoivik and Antoni Feliu, members of the Statistics and Evaluation Section of IFLA.

Their report confirms that the work done by the Technical Committee for the 2nd. National Census of Libraries [at the National Library Pedro Henríquez Ureña (BNPHU)], is solidly based, comprehensive in its conceptual and practical approach, thorough in its planning and appropriate to local conditions in the region.

We thank you on behalf of all members of the Technical Committee of the project, managers and library staff, for this significant contribution to our work. We dream that public libraries in our country, and in Latin America and the Caribbean, may benefit from this collaborative and concerted effort in the future, in the medium and long term, led by the BNPHU with the support and sponsorship of other national and international organizations.

We also consider the technical recommendations given by the specialized staff of the Statistics and Evaluation Section of IFLA  as very generous, relevant and timely.  After reading and analyzing the document in which you provided comments and technical assessments of the questionnaire and the methodological design, we are in the process of integrating the study’s recommendations. After the recommendations have been incorporated we will contact you again to share the document.

As we say goodbye, we want to express our appreciation of IFLA, which is not only a world authority on libraries, but an entity in which libraries and librarians can find space and support for their professional growth.

Sincerely,

Technical Committee
2nd. National Census of Libraries

Translated from Spanish by TH

Resources

• ST 8/11: Nuevo censo de bibliotecas
• ST 7/11: Public libraries in Brazil 2009. A national census.
• ST 6/11: Brazil 2009: bibliotecas públicas. Censo nacional.

Sección de Estadística y Evaluación
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

Distinguidos señores;

En el pasado jueves 08 de septiembre del corriente, recibimos una valiosa distinción: un gratificante mensaje de los señores Tord Hoivik y Antoni Feliu, miembros de la Sección de Estadísticas y Evaluación de la IFLA, en el cual nos ratifica que el trabajo elaborado por la Comisión Técnica del 2do. Censo Nacional de Bibliotecas de la Biblioteca Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (BNPHU), está muy bien fundamentado y es muy completo, tanto en su planteamiento conceptual y práctico como en su planificación; y el mismo está adecuado a las condiciones locales de la región.

Le agradecemos, en nombre de todos los miembros de la Comisión Técnica del proyecto, de los directivos y del personal bibliotecario, esa significativa valoración a nuestro trabajo. Soñamos que las bibliotecas públicas de nuestro país, de América Latina y el Caribe, puedan en un futuro, a mediano y largo plazo, beneficiarse de este esfuerzo colaborativo y concertado, que lidera la BNPHU con el apoyo y auspicio de otras organizaciones nacionales e internacionales.

Necesario es señalar también que valoramos como de muy generosas, relevantes y oportunas las recomendaciones técnicas indicadas por el personal especializado de la Sección de Estadística y Evaluación de la IFLA, en la cual nos presentó observaciones y valoraciones técnicas al cuestionario y al diseño metodológico de la investigación. Después de leer y analizar el documento, estamos en el proceso de integrar las recomendaciones al estudio, en este orden, en lo adelante nos comunicaremos con ustedes para compartir el documento con las recomendaciones incorporadas, tanto en el cuestionario como en el documento metodológico.

Nos despedimos refiriéndole nuestra pública opinión de que el IFLA, no sólo es una autoridad mundial en materia de bibliotecas, sino una entidad en la cual las bibliotecas y bibliotecarios encuentran un espacio de crecimiento y soporte.

Muy atentamente,

The  First National Census of Public Municipal Libraries (PML) shows that in 2009

• 79% of the municipalities had at least one functioning library
• in 13% public libraries were being planned or in the process of reopening
• in 8% they were absent (closed, abandoned or had never existed)

The survey showed that

• PMLs were lending 296 books per month
• had stocks between two and five thousand volumes (in 35% of the cases)
• almost half had computer(s) with Internet access (45%)
• only 29% offered this service to the public

Visits and opening hours

Users tended to visit the localities almost twice a week. They were primarily using it for school related studies (65%).

Almost all libraries were open from Monday through Friday (99%), some on Saturdays (12%), very few on Sundays (1%). In the evenings only 24% kept open.

The majority of the library directors were women (84%) with higher education (57%).

420 municipalities had no PML. In these, the Ministry of Culture initiated the (re)establishment of libraries, by distributing library kits consisting of two thousand books, furniture and equipment, to a value of R$ 50.000.

Resources

• Plinius Data. Brazil

Estimates

Brazil must have about five thousand municipalities (420 = 8%). The number of municipalities with libraries is about four thousand.

Lending

The IFLA survey in 2007 registred 4.800 public libraries. OCLC says that the total stock in 2008 was 6,0 million volumes. This gives an average of 1250 volumes per library

The first number corresponds well with the number of municipalities having libraries.The second number seem too low compared with the census.

Annual lending is

300 books/month * 12 * 4800 = 17 million volumes per year

The population is about 190 million. The numbers correspond to:

• 0.09 volumes per person per year

Turnover

Since the typical library has 2-5.000 books and lends out 3.600 volumes a year, the typical turnover rate is between 0.7 and 1.8. This does not indicate very heavy use of the existing stock.

The cause may be moderate demand, many books that are out of date, or both.

Resources

• Primeiro Censo Nacional das Bibliotecas Públicas Municipais

I summarize some of the data below, and will add a version in English before the weekend.

O 1º Censo Nacional das Bibliotecas Públicas Municipais mostra que, em 2009,

• 79% dos municípios brasileiros possuíam ao menos uma biblioteca aberta
• 13% dos casos, as BPMs ainda estão em fase de implantação ou reabertura
• 8% estão fechadas, extintas ou nunca existiram.

O levantamento aponta que

• BPMs emprestam 296 livros por mês
• têm acervo entre dois mil e cinco mil volumes (35%)
• quase a metade possui computador com acesso à Internet (45%)
• somente 29% oferecem este serviço para o público.

Os usuários frequentam o local quase duas vezes por semana e utilizam o equipamento preferencialmente para pesquisas escolares (65%).

Quase todas as bibliotecas funcionam de dia, de segunda à sexta (99%), algumas aos sábados (12%), poucas aos domingos (1%). No período noturno, somente 24% estão abertas aos usuários.

A maioria dos dirigentes das BPMs são mulheres (84%) e tem nível superior (57%). …

Na média nacional, as BPMs têm 4,2 funcionários – o Nordeste tem o maior índice (5,7), seguido do Norte (4,5), Sudeste (4,1), Centro-Oeste (3,5) e Sul (3,0). O Distrito Federal é a unidade da Federação com a maior quantidade de funcionários (8,1) e Santa Catarina é a que tem a menor (2,4). …

Em 420 municípios as BPMs foram extintas, fechadas ou nunca existiram. … O MinC… promoverá a implantação ou reinstalação dessas bibliotecas, com a distribuição de kits com acervo de dois mil livros, mobiliário e equipamentos, no valor de R$ 50 mil/cada, totalizando R$ 21 milhões.

Recursos/Resources

• Primeiro Censo Nacional das Bibliotecas Públicas Municipais

1. Acceso e instalaciones

• Número medio de bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes
• Promedio ponderado de horas de apertura de las bibliotecas públicas
• Porcentaje de bibliotecas públicas que ofrecen un acceso a Internet para los usuarios
• Porcentaje de bibliotecas públicas que ofrecen sitios web

2. Colección

• Número medio de volúmenes en bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes
• Número medio de volúmenes en bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes alfabetizados

4. Uso de la biblioteca y los usuarios

• Número de usuarios inscritos en bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes
• Número de usuarios inscritos en bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes alfabetizados
• Número de préstamos en bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes
• Número de préstamos en bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes alfabetizados
• Número de visitas en bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes
• Número de visitas en bibliotecas públicas por cada 1.000 habitantes alfabetizados

5. Personal de la biblioteca

• Número medio de empleados en biblioteca públicas por biblioteca
• Proporción entre mujeres y hombres empleados en bibliotecas públicas

6. Gasto

• Gasto en fondo documental y información en biblioteca pública por habitante

Fuente: Global Library Statistics, by Simon Ellis, Michael Heaney, Pierre Meunier and Roswitha Poll, IFLA Journal no. 2, 2009, p. 123

The question how the statistical data will be gathered in the future is of vital importance.

This is the message from my IFLA colleagues Ulla Wimmer and Theo Bothman. Wimmer is secretary of the IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Committee. Bothman works with FAIFE and the IFLA world report.

• By all experience, a survey on a global scale cannot be done by volunteer work (i.e. the Standing Committee) alone.
  
• The project [“Global Statistics for IFLA World Report" ] was started on the assumption that it would be possible to gather the data as part of the World Report Survey with input by the Section SC.
• As this option is no longer available, an alternative plan is needed, which combines resources by volunteers and a professional structure / paid workforce.
  
• Suggestions by the Professional Committee are highly appreciated.

My answer would be:

At the moment, the quantity and quality of statistical information on libraries varies enormously between countries. A handful of countries run advanced statistical systems with comprehensive coverage of their public, academic and special libraries. School libraries, which tend to be small and poorly staffed, is still a statistical problem, however.

The most advanced countries (based on web information) seem to be Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Sweden, Canada (some states) and Australia (some states)  could be added. Let me call them group 4.

The least developed countries have no available statistics whatsoever. In a few cases they publish some library data in statistical yearbooks or reports on cultural statistics. But people do not have time to visit the few big libraries that receive such publications in order to dig out a few numbers. Let me call this group 1.

Between the top and the bottom we find two intermediate groups.

Group 3 consists of countries with well-developed library systems and some good statistics at the national level, like Great Britain, Germany, Italy, much of Eastern Europe, the United States, Chile, Singapore and others. The main problem, seen from abroad, is the lack of extensive, user-oriented web publishing of the data.

Group 2 consists of countries with more uneven and fragmented library systems. The public library sector tends to have greater difficulties than academic and special libraries.  But even the latter library types may suffer from a lack of national-level coordination. The quality and quantity of library statistics depend heavily on the size and strength of library organizations at the national level.

Data must be collected, processed, published and applied by someone. That someone may for instance be

• a specialized public agency (like the Institute of Museum and Library Services for public libraries and the National Center for Education Statistics for academic and school libraries in the United States)
• the central bureau of statistics (like in Japan)
• the relevant government ministries (public libraries in Finland)
• the national library (academic libraries in Finland, all libraries in Norway from 2010)

In this situation information on Groups 1-3 must be gathered locally, by people who live in the country, who are familiar with its statistical system and who can follow the constant changes that are likely to occur. Alle these countries are trying to improve their systems, from wherever they happen to be.

Group 4 is different. Information from Group 4 is available on the web to all interested parties. There is just so much data available. What we find in these countries is not a lack of data per se, but a shortage of statistical analysis, debate and practical use. There is too little processing going on. Improving this situation, through workshops, lectures, publications, web debates, and so on, must also be done through local initiatives.  Each country has its own library community. It is possible and useful to visit the discussions that go on in neighbouring countries. But it is almost impossible to be an active participant in several discussion communities at the same time.

The strategy, or set of actions I believe in, are:

• study the statistical system in your own country
• share that information on the web
• use a place that is easy to locate and easy to link to
• report on current library statistics from time to time
• interpret the data from time to time

I do not believe that a centralized approach, with one data base, standardized reports, a fixed set of indicators, an elected governing board, and so on is sustainable under today’s conditions. A distributed network of volunteers, with a tiny bit of coordination from the central node, would be viable, however. If two or ten or twenty people are willing to participate, I’ll be happy to do some coordination and networking.

Explore and process

The organization of library statistics differ from country to country.

Mapping, using and comparing such statistics is often time-consuming. Since I have an interest in comparative statistics, I have tried to document my own work in this field. The basic idea is simple. When I study Norwegian, or German, or Rumanian statistics, I must spend some time to explore the statistical system and additional time to process some of the data.

If I publish my map and my processed data on the web, others can build on that. The map may be sketchy and the data may be limited, but a small slice of the pizza is better than nothing. Some relevant statistics from neighbouring fields – like media, culture and education – may also be included. What I have done so far is available at Plinius Data.

I also write occasional blog posts on global statistics. Since 2007 about ninety posts have been written in English. You find links to these posts at Plinius on statistics.

Norway

Historical

• Norwegian public libraries 1918-2008..

Academic and special libraries

• Fagbibliotek. Norge. 2008.
  • Selected academic and special libraries. Norway. 2008. Some basic variables and indicators.

Public libraries

The KOSTRA data base is the main source of comparative municipal statistics in Norway. KOSTRA is a vast and technically advanced system run by Statistics Norway, our central statistical agency. It includes data on public libraries, which are funded and run by the municipalities.  The library field is represented by thirteen variables, which give a fair (but not full) coverage of its main aspects.

2010 KOSTRA data with indicators

• KOSTRA10A. Seventeen variables
• KOSTRA10B. Indicator values, by size of municipality
• KOSTRA10. Utgifter. Visits. Sakprosa. Diagrammer
• KOSTRA10. Besøk og utlån. Diagrammer
• KOSTRA10. Scatter diagrams and correlations

2006-2009

• 2009 KOSTRA data with indicators for public libraries. Norway. Municipalities.
  • Seventeen variables. Twenty-six indicators
  • The data processing is described here.
  • KOSTRA quartiles 2009. See also PL 24/11. Size matters
• 2008 KOSTRA data with indicators for public libraries. Norway. Municipalities
  • Seventeen variables. Twenty-six indicators
• 2007 KOSTRA data with indicators for public libraries. Norway. Municipalities.
  • Seventeen variables. Twenty-six indicators
• 2006 KOSTRA data with indicators for public libraries. Norway. Municipalities.
  • Eight variables. Six indicators.

The National Library released the complete public library spreadsheet for 2009 in mid-2011. Selected variables are presented here:

• PubLib Data 2009.

Resources

• Plinius Data.
• Plinius Data. Norway.
• Plinius on statistics.
• Plinius om statistikk. Blog posts in Norwegian.
• Samstat. Statistical blog in Norwegian.
• Global statistics for advocacy. Project blog in English.

Toni Feliu has prepared a set of slides in Spanish as an introduction to the course.

• to provide data sets or practical exercises
• to illustrate different ways of utilizing statistical data in the library field

Here is a new case from Norway.

This spring I have done a small statistical study of the 2009 public library statistics in KOSTRA. Norway has about four hundred muncicipalities, each with its own library organization. I did the following:

• retrieved the 400 values for each of fifteen library variables from the KOSTRA data base
• stored them in a Google Docs spreadsheet
• grouped the libraries into five size groups
• calculated the values of twenty different indicators
• calculated the three quartiles (Q1, median, Q3) for each indicator in each group
• created twenty line diagrams that show the quartile values for each  group
• published the spreadsheet

Documentation

• The graphics can be inspected here.
• Comments on the graphs are published here.
• The origina data set is available here.

The Ypsilon bridge (here viewed from the library side) crosses the Drammen river. It links the east side of the city with the west.

The course has been translated into Norwegian by Tord Høivik, who chaired the working group that developed the original version. The event was co-organized by Buskerud County Library and the LATINA Lab at Oslo University College.

The instructors were associate professor Tord Høivik (OUC) and senior advisor Jannicke Røgler (BCL). The course materials (in Norwegian) are available here.

The Lab is a library-oriented digital development unit within the OUC Library and Learning Centre.

Resources

• ST 30/11: Start med statistikk

Trainers’ manual

The trainers’ manual (TM) now contains

• an introduction for trainers. This introduction describes
  • the historical background of the workshop
  • the specific resources needed to conduct a succesful course
• a course plan for trainers
• the workshop manual (for participants – see below)
• link to a collection of Case materials
• link to a collection of Exercises

Workshop manual

The workshop manual (WM) now contains

• an introduction for participants. The introduction the aim of the course
• a short course plan with descriptions of the seven workshop sessions
• link to Lecture notes (for sessions 3, 5 and 6)

The language has also been edited.

Next steps

In the world of training, nothing is static. This revision is not a major one, however. I have basically tried to organize the documents in a better way. But comments – preferably on the blog – are always welcome.

The next step is adding to the case materials and the exercises, so that course planners have more to choose from. We hope there will be a workshop in Spanish next August. China is clearly interested. There are rumours about Lithuania.

Personally, I am looking forward to a workshop in Uganda next July, sponsored by Makerere University Library. Here we will need cases and exercises that work when national library statistics just don’t exist, as Elisha Chiware points out.