ON-LINE RENEWALS
ALTHOUGH THE number of people borrowing books from libraries is said to be declining, residents of Puddletown, Dorset, have been assured that their library’s performance should not worry them. At a meeting of representatives of Friends’ groups throughout Dorset, held in Dorchester at the end of January, residents were shown figures that seemed to imply that rates of borrowing there had dropped by 12% since 2002. But it was explained that the huge number of people renewing their books on line nowadays has made such figures unreliable.
Chris Pullen, the libraries stalwart who trained all Puddletown volunteers explained: “All books renewed on line (via the dorsetforyou website) are now counted separately and not related to the library from which the books were originally borrowed. This figure will soon reach more than 200,000 a year - and the issue figures for all libraries have dropped accordingly.”
Mike Chaney, Chair, Friends of Puddletown Library is, however, very concerned. He says, “The worry is, of course, that short-sighted councillors might not see it that way when they’re wielding their post-election axe. They may use any evidence they can get their hands on to lay into such ‘unnecessary’ expenditure as that on culture.”
It is oft said that ’statistics’ may be compared with a drunk leaning upon a lamp-post, using it “more for support than illumination”. Reliability of raw data absolutely depends on its consistency. As an example, when a river’s flow is being analysed, the engineer measures flows downstream at a fixed point over a fixed period. If he ignores the fact (or does not declare it) that a whacking great dam has been built upstream of his measuring point, he cannot pretend that his results prove anything — the data is skewed.
This revelation, that issue figures for libraries can be affected by on-line renewals, needs to be very carefully watched. It is a scam of Watergate proportions, if it is used by councillors as a pretext to close libraries. (We thank Mike Chaney for highlighting the danger)
SHIRLEY BURNHAM
Entries (RSS)
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:50 pm
I know that down in Dorset they like to present their councillors as being utter morons- but who is the official who is presenting this information?
“Oh councillor we have 200,000 book loans, but we don’t know where they come from. Perhaps from the town cemetery? ”
200,000 is not a small number! Perhaps that is the same way the officers account for the money people spend on taxes?
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:09 pm
It is not as if the figure of these renewals were being in any way suppressed. Dorset Library Service officers volunteered the information freely. Mr Chaney tells me that they give his library and Friends group tremendous support. His only concern is that the new counting system appears to make small branches less active than they really are which could put them in jeopardy, should the data be misinterpreted by others.
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:24 pm
This all sounds rather smoke and mirrors. For me a borrow is when you go to the library, and take out a book. An online renewal is something else, a convenience, Think I’d prefer that councils be presented with their responsibilities in other fashion…. http://somersethedgerows.blogspot.com/
February 8th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Andrew : a borrow is indeed sensibly described as “when you go to the library and take out a book”. The concern is, not the reasonableness of this view but that raw data generated after a change in recording methods can be used by those who misinterpret it, or wish to mislead, to tell the public that issues are down and that closures or cuts are justified.