Library Research @ IMLSDecember 11, 2013 SDC Conference / St. Louis, MO

Deanne W. Swan, Ph.D.Sr. Statistician, IMLS/OPRE

IMLS/OPRE Library Statistics & Research

• Statistical Collections– Public Library Survey (PLS)– State Library Administrative Agency (SLAA) Survey– Public Needs for Library and Museum Services (PNLMS)

Survey• Evaluation

– Grants to States Program Review, 2008-2011• OPRE Research Projects

• Small and Rural Libraries• E-rate• Libraries, Museums, and Early Learning• Internet Access and Public Library Use

Public Library Survey (PLS)

Public Library Survey (PLS)

• PLS FY 2011– Data released: June 2013– Report: January 2014

• PLS FY 2012– Data collection closed– Currently in post processing

PLS FY 2011: Data Release

• New data formats: SAS, Excel, CSV• New geocoding data files: shapefiles (ESRI

format), kml (Google), geojson (Hipster) • Geocoding

– Records re-coded for FY 2011– New elements added

• Core based statistical area• Metropolitan / Micropolitan flag

PLS FY 2011: Geocoding

  Administrative Entities, FY 2010

Administrative Entities, FY 2011

Match (Centroid) Count Frequency Count Frequency

Street Address 8,441 90.7% 8,501 91.3%

ZIP+4 147 1.6% 114 1.2%ZIP+2 75 0.8% 79 0.8%

ZIP only 643 6.9% 619 6.6%Missing 2 < 0.1% 2 < 0.1%

Total 9,308   9,315  

PLS FY 2011: Geocoding

  Outlets, FY 2010 Outlets, FY 2011

Match (Centroid) Count Frequency Count Frequency

Street Address 15,784 89.5% 15,860 90.1%

ZIP+4 378 2.1% 336 1.9%ZIP+2 181 1.0% 181 1.0%

ZIP only 1,285 7.3% 1,212 6.9%Missing 8 0.1% 9 0.1%

Total 17,636   17,598  

PLS FY 2011: Preliminary Findings

• In FY 2011– 8,956 public libraries (AE) – 17,110 outlets– Served 299.9 million people (96.2% of US pop)

• Libraries were open 42.3 hours/week (on avg)

PLS FY 2011: Preliminary Findings

• Visitation (decrease since FY2009)– 1.5 billion visits

• 1 year decrease of 2.9%• 10 year increase of 23.0%

– 5.1 visits per capita• Circulation (decrease since FY2009)

– 2.4 billion materials circulated• 1 year decrease of 0.9%• 10 year increase of 29.0%

– 34.5% of which were children’s materials– 8.1 circulated materials per capita

PLS FY 2011: Preliminary Findings

• Programs– 3.8 million total programs– 60.5% for children; 8.8% for young adults

• 1 year increase of 1.4%; 8 year increase of 46.7%– 89.0 million people attended programs

• 1 year increase of 2.7%; 8 year increase of 32.3%• Computing

– 261.4 thousand computer terminals• 1 year increase of 6.8%; 10 year increase of 86.2%

– 341.5 million users of computer terminals• 1 year decrease of 7.2%; 5 year increase of 2.2%

PLS FY 2011: Preliminary Findings

• Staffing– 137.1 thousand FTEs working in public libraries– 46.6 thousand librarian FTEs

• Comprise 34.0% of total FTE workforce• 67.6% of librarians have ALA-MLS

– 51.3% of libraries have an ALA-MLS librarian (working in a designated librarian FTE)

PLS FY 2011: Preliminary Findings

• Financials– Revenue: $11.4 billion

• 1 year decrease of 1.0% (adjusted for inflation)• 10 year increase of 8.5% (adjusted for inflation)

– 84.8% from local gov’t– 7.5% from state gov’t (10 yr decrease of 35.6%)

– Operating Expenditures: $10.7 billion• 1 year decrease of 2.3% (adjusted for inflation)• 10 year increase of 9.2% (adjusted for inflation)

State Library Administrative Agency (SLAA) Survey

State Library Administrative Agency (SLAA) Survey• FY2012

– changed collection partner to the American Institutes for Research (AIR)

– Shorter data collection window (8 weeks)– Data released: September 2013

• FY2014– Changes to questionnaire

• Focus on policy-relevant questions in Part D– Comments & feedback from COSLA, key holders,

Office of Library Services (OLS)

State Library Administrative Agency (SLAA) Survey• SLAA FY 2012 Preliminary findings• Revenue

– $990.5 million• 2 year decrease of 11.9% (adjusted for inflation)• 10 year decrease of 31.9% (adjusted for inflation)

– Decrease in proportion of revenue from state• 2 year decrease 15.5%; 10 year decrease 37.9%

• LSTA Expenditures– $156.7 million

• 2 year decrease 6.6%; 10 year decrease 11.8%

Public Needs for Library and Museum Services (PNLMS) Survey

Public Needs for Library and Museum Services (PNLMS) Survey• A Household Survey to determine attitudes,

awareness, and utilization of library and museum services.– Library Users, Museum Users, Dual Users, and Non-

Users– Children’s module

• Method– Random digit dialing (RDD) telephone survey using

computer assisted telephone interview (CATI).• Data collection

– September 12 to December 1

Public Needs for Library and Museum Services (PNLMS) Survey• Preliminary Results• Sample

– N = 3527 households – Cell phone subsample: N = 1029 (29.2%)– Response rate (through Oct 30) = 32.8%

• Landline RR = 40.7% / Cell RR = 19.0%

Public Needs for Library and Museum Services (PNLMS) Survey

Type of UserDual Users 24.5%Library Users 18.6%Museum Users 21.2%Non-Users 35.7%

Public Needs for Library and Museum Services (PNLMS) Survey

PNLMS Timeline  

Data Collection Completed (December 2013)

Data Editing and Cleaning Winter 2014

Non-response Bias Study Winter 2014

Final Data File June 2014

Report of Findings August 2014

Grants to States Program Review2008 to 2011

• Evaluation of the IMLS Grants to States program– Summary analysis of data from the State Library

Agency report and State Program Reports (SPR) in an easy-to-read format

• Audience: People unfamiliar with the program• Report: January 2014 (ALA Midwinter)

Other Research Projects

• Small and Rural Libraries• Economic Impact of Internet Access and Public

Library Use• E-Rate• Libraries, Museums, and Early Learning

Research: Small & Rural Libraries

Research: Small & Rural Libraries

Research: Small & Rural Libraries

• Research Brief: released September 2013

• Additional analyses: rural and small separately– Predicting service by rural or small status,

controlling for factors such as revenue– Examining the relationship between location/size

and staffing, revenue, services– Incorporating multi-level analyses, examining the

role of state level factors on service at the local level

Research: Economic Impact of Internet Access on Public Library Use• Empirical analysis of public library use in the

United States between 2000 and 2008 – a period of rapid expansion in high-speed Internet access.

• Anton Bekkerman & Gregory Gilpin– Professors of Economics at Montana State

University• Data:

– PLS 2000 to 2008– FCC Form 477 high-speed Internet service provider

database

Research: Economic Impact of Internet Access on Public Library Use• Overall: As individuals gain access to high-speed

Internet, they increase their demand for public library resources.

• Increased access to high-speed residential Internet contributed to (on average):– 4.5% increase in circulation– 8.2% increase in circulation of children’s materials– 8.0% increase in use of in-library computers

• Largest impacts were observed in metropolitan areas.

Research: E-Rate

• Questions:– Which libraries are applying for e-rate funds?– What types of services are libraries requesting

under e-rate?– What is the distribution of e-rate funds?

• Data:– Universal Service Administration Company (USAC)

e-rate applications, 1998-2013– FCC data from e-rate application Block 4 (2010)– USDA data for Free & Reduced Lunch (FRL)– Public Library Survey (PLS)

Research: E-Rate

Research: E-Rate

Research: E-Rate

• 10-12% of all applications are from libraries (as the lead applicant)

• Libraries only comprise 3-4% of funding• In 2010, 50% of all public libraries applied for

some funding (not necessarily as lead applicant)

Early Learning: Growing Young Minds

A call to action for policymakers, practitioners, and parents to make full use of museums and libraries to close knowledge and opportunity gaps and give all children a strong start in learning.

Research: Early Learning

• Questions– Are there differences between children who visit libraries

and museums and those who do not?– Does visiting these types of institutions have an effect

on children’s academic or other outcomes?• Data

– Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K) Classes of 1998-99 and 2010-11

• Analyses– Demographic and Behavioral profile of Children who visit

Libraries and Museums at Kindergarten– Effect of Library and Museum Visitation at Kindergarten

on Grade 3 Reading and Math Achievement

Research: Early Learning

How many kindergarten-aged children visit libraries or museums?

Research: Early Learning

How many kindergarten-aged children visit libraries or museums?

Research: Early Learning

Research: Early Learning

IMLS/OPRE Library Research

• For more information

Deanne W. Swandswan@imls.gov

Justin Grimesjgrimes@imls.gov