In order to provide meaningful unit cost information, the librarian needs an accurate concept of what data should be measured and why. The dimension which has been conspicuously absent in library statistics is interpretation of the data which is reported, and the correlation of one set of data with another to reach a defensible conclusion. For the…

Based upon annual reporting data for FY 76, this statistical report was designed to facilitate rapid comparison of support and activity levels among Massachusetts public libraries. The first section presents summary tables providing means, medians, and percentile values by population group for each of the following indicators: (1) library…

This supplemental report has been developed to assist administrators in the comparative analysis and evaluation of Massachusetts public libraries. Libraries have been placed into one of seven budget groups according to their total operating expenditures to provide another method of comparing libraries by "like" size and population of…

This survey is a statistical summary and analysis of data on Texas public libraries, collected by the Field Services Division of the Texas State Library. The following statistical presentations were prepared: (1) an individual statistical profile for each public library in the state, also including the classification of libraries by population…

The development and use of library statistics in the Soviet Union and systems of reporting are discussed in this speech by E.A. Fenelonov, Ministry of Culture of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, and are compared with statistical development in the United States by Vernon E. Palmour of King Research, Inc. Fenelonov emphasizes the use…

The principal uses of statistics in library planning may be illustrated by examples from the state of Illinois. State law specifies that the Illinois State Library compile and publish statistics on libraries. State agencies also play an important and expanding role in this effort. The state library now compiles statistics on all types of…

An analysis is conducted of economic issues pertinent to library planning in higher education in the face of rising costs and diminishing financial support. The individual chapters deal with: 1) growth rates in large university libraries; 2) library costs in colleges and universities; 3) cost trends and long-range plans; 4) library data; and 5) a…