Stats and the small library
Adam Holland, writing in Library Journal (The Stat Factor, Aug. 15, 2008), wonders if “there is any alternative that would allow librarians to care a little less about statistics while still providing high-quality services in a fiscally responsible manner?”
I work in a very quantitative field (demography) and make annual reports to a federal funding agency. So statistics are pretty important in my work. But my library statistics are almost meaningless because of the size and nature of my library. My “gate count” (if I had a gate) might be anywhere from 0 to 5 on a typical day. So if I walk in and out of the library a few times during the day, I’m seriously inflating my stats. Similarly, circulation counts for most of our books are 0 or 1, so if someone uses a book but doesn’t check it out, we’re missing a lot of information.
We keep circulation statistics because it’s easy enough to do in our system, but I don’t worry about much else. Going into the library once or twice and chatting with any students there gives a much better picture of our usage than any statistic ever could. I have gotten questions about whether we still need a physical library space many, many times over the7 years I’ve been here – and my entirely qualitative argument has yet to meet substantial resistance.
