http://www.lrs.org/ Research and Statistics about Libraries en-us http://www.lrs.org/blog/rss.xml Want to get the most out of our dynamic public library statistics pages? We now have a tutorial available which will help you better navigate the tools and find the statistics you are looking for more easily.
http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=241 Based on interest expressed at the May 2008 Colorado Public Library Directors (CPLD) meeting, a survey was developed by LRS and distributed by James LaRue (Director of Douglas County Libraries) through the CPLD email list. The purpose was to assess existing hardware, software, and personnel costs associated with existing integrated library systems (ILS) in public libraries, as well as gauge interest in a statewide consortial ILS. The results of this survey are now available at: http://www.lrs.org/technology/ils/.

Links on the page include:
* Public Library ILS Survey Results Summary
* Survey Report and Results
* Open Source ILS - CO Libraries Task Force
* What's with all this ILS talk?

~Nicolle
steffen_n@cde.state.co.us http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=240 From ChildStats.gov, "The annual report profiles the status of the nation's children and youth, presenting up-to-date federal statistics in one convenient reference. The National Center for Education Statistics in the Institute of Education Sciences is one of the 22 federal agencies that participate in the Forum [Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics] and contribute to the report. The report documents that mathematics and reading scores of fourth and eighth graders have increased, but shows as well that the adolescent birth rate and the proportion of infants born at low birthweight have also risen. The report also includes indicators on child poverty, health care, housing, and at-risk behavior."

Key links:
America's Children at a Glance: http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/glance.asp
Education: http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/edu.asp
Complete report: http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/index.asp

~Nicolle
steffen_n@cde.state.co.us http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=239 The "Academic Libraries: 2006 First Look" report has just been released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

According to the report, in 2006 the nationand#8217;s 3,600 academic librariesand#8230;
* Had 144.1 million circulation transactions
* Loaned 10.8 million documents to other libraries and borrowed 10.3 million
* Held 1 billion books and other paper materials
* Employed 93,600 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, including 26,500 FTE librarians
* Had $6.2 billion in total expenditures with $3.1 billion spent on salaries and wages
* 72% provided reference service by e-mail or the Web

According to NCES, and#8220;This report provides a statistical profile of the libraries serving postsecondary, two- and four-year degree-granting institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report includes information on services, collections, staff, revenue, and expenditures. The data were collected through the Academic Libraries Survey (ALSand#8230;and#8221;

Report: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008337
Compare Academic Libraries: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/compare/Index.asp
NCES: http://nces.ed.gov/

~Nicolle
steffen_n@cde.state.co.us http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=238 2007 Public Library Statistics are now available for libraries in Colorado. Public libraries throughout the state completed their portions of the 2007 Public Library Annual Report this spring, and we have now completed state and federal edit checks to ensure the quality of the data.

Check out the stats at http://www.lrs.org/pub_stats.php.

Zeth
lietzau_z@cde.state.co.us http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=237 While I was at ALA, I had the chance to be exposed to several sessions that presented research that is in a very similar vein to what we're doing here at the LRS. I'll mention three such studies that I was able to learn about:

The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill is doing a study that is very close to our hearts - the Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science (http://www.wilis.unc.edu/index.html). They're treating it as a two-step process. First, they've surveyed LIS graduates from their school dating to 1964, and are currently processing that data. Next, they will be using what they've done to attempt to develop a model for career tracking of LIS graduates. It should be interesting to see what they come up with.

Second, Old Dominion University is conducting an exploratory study of the relationship between National Board Certification (NBC) in Library Media and Information Science (LMS) and student academic achievement ( http://www.odu.edu/~spribesh/imls-nbc.shtml). This is well in line with the school library impact studies done by LRS and others found at http://www.lrs.org/impact.php.

Finally, I got to sit in on a session presented by OCLC which discussed their study, "From Awareness to Funding: A study of library support in America" (http://www.oclc.org/reports/funding/default.htm). They're analyzing the data from a very large study of library support that found, among many other things, that the library's most committed funding supporters are not the heaviest library users.

Though all of these studies are still in the data analysis stage at the moment, I look forward to seeing what comes from them.

Zeth
lietzau_z@cde.state.co.us http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=236 This latest issue of Fast Facts compares libraries districts to their non-district peers to determine if they continued to show strong financial stability since the budget cuts of 2002. And if library districts have increased their funding more than non-district libraries, have they also increased the utilization of their resources and materials more than the other library types?

See the Fast Facts article here: http://www.lrs.org/documents/fastfacts/260_PL_districts_jur.pdf

Comment on the article here: http://www.lrs.org/blog/

Jennifer French
Senior Research Analyst
Library Research Service
http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=235 Summer reading programs are an integral part of public library culture, and many libraries strive to serve all ages including children, young adults, and adults. Some fun facts about summer reading include:

and#8226; In the summer of 2007, nearly 205,000 Colorado children participated in summer reading at their public library. In fact, over the past 10 years, approximately 1.5 million participants registered for summer reading programs at Colorado public libraries.

and#8226; Children in every income group who read six or more books over the summer gain more in reading achievement than children who do not.

and#8226; On average, children from low-income families lose nearly three months of grade-level equivalency during the summer months each year, compared to an average of one month lost by middle-income children.

and#8226; Despite some studies that claim teenagers are reading less than ever before, in January 2005 the Gallup organization asked 1,078 teenagers, ages 13-17 about the books they read for pleasure over the last six months. 82% said they had read at least one book.

and#8226; Libraries have used blogs as a platform for presenting adult summer reading programs to their patrons. The creator of Maggie Reads (http://www.maggiereads.blogspot.com) notes that in the summer of 2007, her first blog-based reading challenge prompted comments by over 80 bloggers in the community.

The Colorado State Library provides additional summer reading resources for libraries at:
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/SummerReading/

Sources (in order of being quoted):

http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/SummerReading/Downloads/pdf/SummerReadingPressRelease_CSL.pdf

http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/research.htm

http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/SummerReading/Downloads/pdf/PreventSummerSetback_English08.pdf

http://sdkrashen.com/pipermail/krashen_sdkrashen.com/2005-July/000182.html

Maggie Moran. (2008). Reading + blogging: One perfect adult summer reading program. Mississippi Libraries, 72(1), p. 6-8.
http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=234 A new Fast Facts from Library Research Service examines the trends evident among a cohort of school libraries that have consistently responded to the annual Colorado School Library Survey. These trends include more group visits to the library, a greater emphasis on technology, increased circulation, and more frequent use of interlibrary loan.

Fast Facts: http://www.lrs.org/fastfacts/index.php?year=2008

-Amanda
arybin@du.edu http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=233 The latest Fast Facts explores Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) literacy-enhanced programing in 13 public library jurisdictions in Colorado. The Fast Facts concludes, "Through training, advocacy, and ongoing support, Colorado's libraries are working collaboratively to foster and promote early literacy to benefit residents in all areas of the state."

Fast Facts: http://www.lrs.org/fastfacts/index.php?year=2008

~Nicolle
steffen_n@cde.state.co.us
http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=232 "Librarianship as viable career" is the liveliest discussion we've seen on libnet in awhile. Obviously many of us feel passionately about being librarians and have strong opinions about the value of an MLIS degree.

Of course, at the LRS we'd like to capture some of these opinions. Help us out by answering a few short questions about this hot topic at: http://surveys.lrs.org/respond.php?sid=31.

This anonymous 60-second survey is intended to capture your gut-reaction to questions about the value of an MLIS degree and its impact on employment opportunities.

Survey at: http://surveys.lrs.org/respond.php?sid=31

Nicolle and Zeth
Library Research Service
Colorado State Library
www.LRS.org http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=231 The first year of job postings on LibraryJobline.org has been reviewed and shows some interesting trends in library employment.

The data indicate that new library jobs are being created, the requirement for an MLIS varies by library type, and that there is an increase in desire for Spanish-speaking employees.

See the Fast Facts article here: http://www.lrs.org/documents/fastfacts/257_jobline.pdf

Comment on the article here: http://www.lrs.org/blog/

Regina Avila
Research Fellow
Library Research Service


http://www.lrs.org/blog/viewitem.php?post=230