The Numbers Game analyzing

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The Numbers Gameanalyzing presenting your
librarys data

• Keith Curry Lance
• Consultant
• RSL Research Group

Wisconsin Public Libraries Raising Your
Communitys Net Worth
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NEEDS FOR ANALYZING PRESENTING DATA

• Planning marketing programs services
• Making management decisions
• Evaluating performance
• Justifying budgets
• Doing advocacy

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STRATEGIES

• Taking the users point of view
• Examining trends/making projections
• Comparing libraries (to each other to
  standards)
• Putting libraries in social context

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Taking the Users Point of View

• Per capita statistics
• The market basket approach
• The competitive market
• The taxpayers perspective

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Per Capita Statistics
Phillips Memorial Library Eau Claire,
2005 Total Per Capita Visits
425,785 5 Circulation 1,201,904
14 Reference 82,511 1
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The Market Basket Approach

• The typical WI resident pays 33.47 for public
  library service. In exchange, the typical
  resident
• borrowed 6 circulating books
• Walter Isaacsons EINSTEIN 32
• PAULA DEEN It Aint All About
• the Cookin 25
• used 2 items in the library
• WALL STREET JOURNAL 101/year
• received an answer to a reference question
• DUNS BUSINESS RANKINGS 395/year
• If an individual had purchased only these
  materials, the cost would have been about
  3,347.00

FSCS, 2004
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The Competitive Market

• Are you getting your moneys worth?
• The .38 cent sales tax increase will cost the
  average Boulder citizen about 17.00 per year.
• For 17.00, you can buy
• 1/3 of a filled pothole
• 3/4 of a ticket to the CU-Nebraska game
• 1 extra large pizza with the works
• 3 parking tickets
• OR unlimited use of an expanded public library!

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The Taxpayers Perspective

• April 30, 2007 is Tax Freedom Day!
• US taxpayers spent Jan. 1 to Apr. 30 earning what
  we will pay in local, state, and federal taxes
  for the year.
• Figures on local library revenue per capita and
  personal income indicate that residents spent
  just 3 hours--lets say 8am to 11am on Jan.
  1--earning the taxes that will support the
  states public libraries for the entire year!

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Tracking Trends Making Projections

• Tracking year-to-year trends
• Comparing trends
• Indexing dollars for inflation
• Indexing salaries for cost of living
• Projecting future needs

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Tracking Year-Year Trends Tool
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Comparative Trend Analysis Example
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Tracking Year-Year Trends Example

• Douglas County (CO) Librariesone of the fastest
  growing counties in the US
• Trends in population growth circulation
• 1990-2005
• population 92,000 to 225,000 (x 2.45)
• circulation 360k to 3.6 million (x 10)

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Indexing Dollars for Inflation Example

• Inflation increased cost of the same item(s)
  over time
• Your library spent 20K on periodicals in 2000,
  21K in 2006
• Average price of high school small public
  library periodicals (LJ) 43 in 2000, 56 in
  2006
• 56/431.3, 1.36 x 20k26k needed
• 21k/1.316.1k (value of 21k in 2000)

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Indexing Salaries for Cost of Living Example

• Cost of living variations in cost of item(s)
  from place to place (at same time)
• Moving from outlying town (100) to big city
  suburb (110)
• In outlying town, local librarian makes 30k
• What salary needed in big city suburb to maintain
  buying power?
• In big city suburb, equivalent salary is 33k
• Same salary, 30k 27.3k

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Projecting Future Needs Examples

• Adjustments for population, inflation
• Eagle County Public Library deal
• Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR)
• Projections for library prices
• Estimating cost of first day or replacement
  collections
• Price series for books, periodicals, serials
• Price series for electronic formats access
• Hint Add trend line to Excel chart of recent
  historical data to estimate future inflation,
  prices

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Comparing Libraries

• Identifying peers
• The politics of peers
• Individual data
• Rankings
• Proportions (Percentages)
• Grouped data
• Individual/group vs. group/group comparisons
• Summary statistics (means vs. medians)
• Benchmarking vs. standards

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Comparing Libraries Examples

• Identifying peers (population, dollars, FTE,
  football teams that beat yours)
• Rankings state rankings, Hennen ratings
• Percentages/grouped data staff materials as
  of total operating expenditures
• Summary statistics LSA population, electronic
  access expenditures
• Benchmarking/standards selected statistics for
  trustees, state standards, national norms

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Ranking Example 1
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Ranking Example 2
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Key Statistics for Trustees Example
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Putting Libraries in Context

• Scanning the social, political, and economic
  environment
• Identifying decision-makers concerns
• Finding appropriate data
• Creating the hook

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Libraries in Context Examples

• PLs rank 2nd only to Fire protection among local
  government services
• Visits to CO libraries outnumber ski lift ticket
  sales 6-1 annually
• Americans spend enough on legal gambling annually
  to fund PLs for 75 years
• The nations PLs circulate 4.5 million items per
  day--2 1/2 times the daily number of Fed Ex
  deliveries

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For more information

• Contact
• Keith Curry Lance
• RSL Research Group
• 303-466-1860
• keithlance_at_comcast.net
• Or, visit LRS.org