Secondary Libraries:

Customer-Focused and Data-DrivenA staff development event for secondary teacher-librarians.Thursday September 29, 2011

Facilitated by Anita Brooks Kirkland, Consultant, ITS, K-12 Libraries

Educators regularly gather, organize and analyze both quantitative and qualitative evidence on how their work impacts student achievement and program success.Evidence-Based Practice

Are circulation statistics an indicator of program success?

Your concerns about circ stats?

Most librarians are content to continue what libraries have traditionally done to to provide services to customers. Occasionally a library will introduce a new service, but rarely does a library embrace the concept of using evaluation as a part of its day-to-day activities. The vast majority of performance measures and statistics historically gathered and used by libraries are focused on inputs and outputs. Yet these measures and statistics do little to reveal the impact the library has on the lives of its customers. Matthews, J. (2007). The evaluation and measurement of library services. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

We take this attitude at our peril, however.

How ARE circulation stats an indicator of program success?

How healthy are your circulation stats?

What factors influence circulation success at your school?Library Heart Health Clinic: Mutual Support Therapy

All Elementary Schools: 44.37 items per studentSenior Elementary Schools: 17.26 items per student Secondary Schools: 4.42 items per studentAverage per student circulation, 2010-2011 school year.

Secondary Schools:Items Circulated, 2009 - 2010 Mean (Average): 6,026 itemsMedian (Mid-Point): 5,636 items

Secondary Schools:Items Circulated, 2010 - 2011 Mean (Average): 5,696 itemsMedian (Mid-Point): 5,166 items

Overall trend?KCI, FHCI & one other school.

A 94% improvement in circulation in one year.How do you explain THAT???!

From spectacular to more spectacular.How do you explain THAT???!

What are they doing RIGHT at KCI and FHCI?Janice Bolzon, FHCISue Danic, KCI

What library program elements will boost circulation at your school?

What will that do for kids? How does it align with board goals?Library Heart Health Clinic: Mutual Support Therapy

The Final Frontier:Empowered by Evidence or Meltdown by Metrics?

For any type of library, consideration should be given to constructing and completing outcome studies that identify the benefits and impacts of the librarys resources and its services on the lives of its customers.Matthews, J. (2007). The evaluation and measurement of library services. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

On the basis of how students benefit from effective school libraries, this study sought to provide recommendations for professional practice, educational policy development, further research, and tools for school librarians to chart their libraries impact on learning. A Call for Evidence-Based Practice in School LibrarianshipRoss Todd, Carol Kuhlthau, Ohio Study 2004Ross Todd (2003). Student learning through Ohio school libraries: A summary ofthe Ohio research study. http://www.oelma.org/studentlearning/default.asp

Deal in Data or Die:Learning from Other Library SectorsThe KPL Example - Margaret Howell

A small proportion of the collection gets the greatest amount of use.

Circulation is not an accurate measure of total use, and the ratio of in-library use to circulation varies greatly and should be studied locally.

Some research libraries have significant in-library use of low-circulating items.Matthews, J. (2007). The evaluation and measurement of library services. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.We know that our circulation statistics do not capture the extent to which library print resources are really used.

Can we capture data on in-library use?Supporting Readers =High CirculationSupporting Researchers =High In-Library UseWRDSB Horizon Investigation: Kathryn Broadfoot

Making Metrics MatterWhat kind of library usage metrics can we reasonably gather?

How? Why?

Will it help demonstrate program efficacy?

Will it inform our own practice to help us be responsive to learners needs?

Some indicators are library metrics.

Can you find an example?

Is It Time for a Fine Finale?$$$$$$$$$$$

Windsor Star, August 19, 2011Library considers eliminating fineshttp://www.windsorstar.com/Library+considers+eliminating+fines/5276124/story.html

Amos Memorial Library, Sidney, Ohio

In 1981 over 5% of the collection was overdue. Costs for administration of fine processes? $30,000Fines collected? $6000

They decided to eliminate fines.

Between 1982 and 1985 less than 1% of their resources were overdue and administrative costs were minimal.No fines save money for Sidney, Ohio library. Library Journal 110(4). 1985.

StudentsTeachersLibrariansWhy do libraries charge late fines?Brehm Heeger, P. (2007). Better late than never: Latefines stop teens from coming to the library.School Library Journal 53(2).

Fines, replacement costs and processing fees are affordable for the middle classes, but represent significant and overwhelming costs for poor people. As a result, poor patrons with fines over $10.00 who cannot pay the fines are excluded from accessing library resources. This barrier to library use has short and long-term consequences for the library and the community it serves. DeFaveri, A. (2005). Breaking barriers: Libraries and socially excluded communities.Information for Social Change 21(Summer 2005). libr.org/isc/articles/21/9.pdf.

A child knocks a cup out of his mothers hand in the library, spilling the contents onto the book. Library personnel inform her that she is responsible for the replacement cost. The mother is left visibly embarrassed in a public place as she has to explain that she cannot afford to pay for the book. By choosing to make a $25.00 replacement cost more significant than the role the institution can play in the social, developmental, and community life of the family, the library forfeits its role as a community and literacy advocate and leader. DeFaveri, A. (2005). Breaking barriers: Libraries and socially excluded communities.Information for Social Change 21(Summer 2005). libr.org/isc/articles/21/9.pdf.

A librarian decries a plan to waive fines for a select group of patrons who had not been to the library in years. The logic went something like this: They run up fines as children, stop using the library for a while, and when they come back years later we can get them. These examples, although extreme, detract from the image of the library. Here the shushing librarian becomes the enforcer, a new taxman or bad cop to be feared.

Commonly, fines are defended as a revenue generator, or as a lesson put forth by the library to encourage responsibility. Such lessons are the purview of teachers and parents.

But regardless of who generates the notice, or who calls at night, the effect on patrons is the same: a negative view of the library, and decreased use of its services.Sifton, D. (2009). The Last taboo: Abolishing library fines.Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research 4(1).

The library can examine the borrowing habits of teens and consider making teens exempt from library fines. Fines keep teens out of the library. Few teens are financially independent and so library fines can be as daunting for them as for other socially excluded groups. And like other socially excluded groups, teens that have the least, need the library the most. Omitting fines will encourage ongoing library use throughout teenage years and will promote a habit of library use that will be carried into adulthood.DeFaveri, A. (2005). Breaking barriers: Libraries and socially excluded communities.Information for Social Change 21(Summer 2005). libr.org/isc/articles/21/9.pdf.

Major barriers between students and resources include but are not limited to imposing age, grade-level, or reading-level restrictions on the use of resources; limiting the use of interlibrary loan and access to electronic information; charging fees for information in specific formats; requiring permission from parents or teachers; establishing restricted shelves or closed collections; and labeling. Policies, procedures, and rules related to the use of resources and services support free and open access to information.American Library Association. Access to Resources and Services in School Library Media Program: An Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS. http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/accessresources.cfm

Fine Issues in WRDSB Secondary SchoolsWhat resonates with you in this discussion?

What concerns you?

What other factors do we need to consider in our organizational context?

Fine Alternatives?Restorative Justice?Salt Lake City PL:Cant pay the fine? Do the time.Read your way out of your fine: $1.00 for 10 minutes of reading.Fine Amnesty Week/Month?Proactive Routines?: Regular reminders Focus on problem-solving, not punishment Timely resolution ABOLISH THEM FOREVER?A Proposal for Action Research

Stephanie Ropp, GCI

Thanks. See you at the Vendors Display.Images in this presentation were used under license from iStock Photo: http://www.istockphoto.com