Discusses the value of statistics in public library administration and recent efforts by the federal government and the Public Library Association (PLA) to gather public library statistics. PLA's Public Library Data Service (PLDS) Statistical Report '88 and planned online availability are described. An inset shows data on salaries for beginning…

Describes the development of the Federal State Cooperative System (FSCS) for Public Library Data, a system that combines the annual collection of data from public libraries by state agencies with the reporting of national public library statistics by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Future plans are also discussed. (six…

Uses statistics from the Federal-State Cooperative System for Public Library Data to describe the distribution of librarians with master's degrees from graduate library education programs accredited by the American Library Association by size of population served and by state. Implications of these data are suggested, and discussion questions are…

Discusses areas needing revision in the manual "Output Measures for Public Libraries," i.e., measurement objectives, research skills of output measures users, management versus research contexts, relating inputs to outputs, problems in data collection, user versus library performance, sample sizes, interpretation of output measure…

Discusses the Public Library Data Service survey results in regard to children's services. Data are presented on annual circulation, circulation per capita, program attendance, collection turnover rates, and the materials budget. (EA)

Data on the 81 largest libraries in the "Public Library Data Service '96 Statistical Report" were examined to determine the validity of commonly held assumptions, namely that the age, educational level, and economic status of a community correlate, one way or another, with public library use and support in that community. No evidence to…

Based on a 1993 survey of 187 children's librarians in 14 states, this status report summarizes and discusses data representing input measures, output measures, fill rates, and special questions about the relationship between school and public libraries. It makes recommendations for improving the quantity and quality of data used to make decisions…

Describes guidelines issued by the Public Library Association which base evaluation of individual public libraries on community standards rather than national; identify eight basic roles of the library within the community; and provide a suggested process for libraries and communities to assess service needs and determine which activities to…

Compares directors' use of Public Library Data Service statistics and Federal-State Cooperative System for Public Library Data statistics to show how directors make use of statistics and to highlight the statistical information that directors find particularly useful. The survey addressed: last time of use; ways of use; frequency of use of…

Discusses current issues in measuring library effectiveness, including rapid technological changes and increasing obsolescence in librarians' competencies; increased pressure for accountability; tools to help libraries become what they determine they should be rather than conforming to national standards; and how to determine the validity and…

Reports on the Public Library Association's data collection project for 1987-91. Statistics show most libraries are progressing in terms of financial support and use, although not dramatically. Data on the role selection process and output measures are included. (Contains seven references.) (EAM)

Presents results of a study that examined the kinds of statistics on children's services collected by state library agencies and juvenile circulation statistics collected by individual libraries. Data on libraries are compared according to the size of the library; and the incidence of automated systems for various sizes of libraries is reported.…