Keywords
Citation
Ole Pors, N. (2003), "LISU Annual Library Statistics 2002: Featuring Trend Analysis of UK Public and Academic Libraries 1991‐2001", New Library World, Vol. 104 No. 6, pp. 240-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2003.104.6.240.2
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
With over 120 tables stuffed with numbers and 40 charts or figures together with informed and sometimes thought‐provoking comments emerge. Overall, it amounts to 200 pages of both relevant and interesting information.
During the last four years, I wrote for the Danish National Library Authority an article about the Danish Library Statistics in their Yearbook. It has been a pleasure because it forces one to take a critical view on interpreting statistics. I have always liked the Danish Library Statistics because they are very good publications with much information about all, approximately 270, public library systems and a good selection of research and special libraries. The annual statistics include, like the LISU statistics, a ten‐year trend analysis. The unit of analysis in the Danish statistics is the single library system and this approach is very different to the one adopted by LISU. If the reader wants this type of information, he or she has to turn to the annual CIPFA and SCONUL statistics.
In the following comments, I focus on some of the features that make the LISU statistics especially remarkable and useful.
For every section there is an introduction containing a written analysis of the main trends and some methodological advices or warnings about how far you can interpret the tables and charts in the section. These sections also include valuable information about the design of the data collection.
Another interesting feature is that many of the numbers for public libraries are ratio numbers with per capita as the bottom line.
The coverage of topics in the book is impressive. There is information about economy, stock and staff, lending and acquisition and much more.
I will start with some observations concerning the public library statistics. As in other countries, we see a trend towards a lesser market penetration for the traditional core services, such as lending of books. During the last ten years, lending has decreased by 30 per cent. At the same time, lending of different types of AV materials increased, which is reflected in the income generation of the public libraries. In particular, the loan of adult fiction has decreased. There seems to be no doubt that the decrease in book lending connects to the general decrease in the total bookstock due to the acquisition policies. The relationship is still one that is difficult to determine.
Personally, I find this decrease in the traditional core services disturbing. A factor like this could undermine the legitimacy of the public library system. These statistics become more revealing compared to the book market. It is evident that people have changed their behaviour. The increase in the book trade indicates that more people buy books instead of borrowing books from the library system. Another disturbing trend is the change in age profile among the users. It is evident that the public library system is losing its hold on the younger generation. The proportion of users under 34 years of age has dropped quite a lot during the last ten years. This can, of course, be a consequence of demographic changes in society, but it is a fact. The average age of public library users is higher than before.
I find one type of statistics missing in the book. It is the calculation of the number of renewals. I must admit that I am not familiar with the renewal policy in the UK, but in Denmark the proportion of renewals of loans has increased to nearly 20 per cent of the lending. It is another way of saying that lending has decreased even more than the lending figures indicate. This is due to the ease of access in managing your library business from your home computer.
The authors and editors warn about the interpretation of figures for annual visits. Also here the trend is decreasing as it is with the number of enquiries, requests and interlibrary loans. I would have liked to see more elaborate statistics for Internet use and computers in libraries.
As with all good statistics, this collection of numbers and comments raise interesting and pertinent questions. It is, of course, good to see that the users have a rather high satisfaction rate in relation to the public library system. The problem is that the statistics indicate that there are simply fewer of them.
Overall, it appears that the public libraries have difficulties penetrating peoples’ lives and they are losing market shares. It is obvious that it is still a service people like, but it is losing importance. I expect that will be one of the major challenges the coming years.
The book also contain sections on academic libraries, special libraries, national libraries and important miscellaneous statistics, such as price indexes, exchange rates, number of book titles published and interesting lists of titles of the most borrowed books.
Most of the statistics in these sections only provide meaning when taking into account the drastic rise in the number of FTE students during the last ten years. Of special interest is the ways in which electronic resources play a more and more important role in the library picture. There are differences between the different types of educational institutions, but it is evident that a substantial part of the material budget is used for digital resources. It is also obvious that most of the HE libraries have invested heavily in workstations for the students.
I find statistics about the use of electronic resources missing. This could be statistics concerning downloading or other relevant use figures.
One of the many good things about this publication is the inclusion of relevant statistics about the book market, economic indicators and prices for serials.
Overall, it is a highly recommendable publication. It is an interesting read and it will force the reader to formulate questions about his or her institution.