Ontario Library Data Collection

Presented by:

Rod Sawyer

Ministry of

Tourism, Culture

and Sport

Ontario’s Public Library Statistics

• http://

www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/libraries

/statistics.shtml

• How does the Ministry use

data?

• What can/should public

libraries do with the statistics?

Using Library Statistics and Key Ratios

Public Library

Statistics

MTCS

Municipal Government

OLS

Other Provincial Ministries

Services to Library Patrons

Ontario Public Library Statistics – Background• Ontario Public Library Statistics are a Ministry

publication and have been collected since the early

1900s.

• Statistics are collected: o Under the authority of the Public Libraries Act (PLA) and

its Regulation 976.

o By an Annual Survey of Public Libraries, online since 1999,

which in turn is supported by a Typical Week Survey.

• Over 380 public libraries, First Nation public libraries

and organizations that contract for public library

services report on their statistics. Submission of

complete and accurate statistics are one requirement

for Ministry public library operating support.

Continuous improvement

• Adding and Removing Survey Fields

o Consultationo Public Libraries, Library Organizations (LOMSET, LEDR,

OMBI), OLSs, library e-mails to the Ministry

New fields added

• Data by Program type and attendees – e.g. early literacy and early

learning, summer reading, services for newcomers, careers and job

training, technology, social media and computer literacy, teen

programming, seniors programming

• Public Library Partnerships and initiatives – e.g. consortia purchasing,

social media participation, cultural partnerships, education sector

partnerships, government sector partnerships, information on shovel-

ready projects

• More information on revenue streams including breakdowns on

provincial operating, and project grant types.

• How often libraries address requests for Accessible material.

Trends 2010 to 2011

• Library cardholders down from 5.1 million to 4.9 million. But are

they really down?

• Service points – up from 1,089 to 1,129 – growth of deposit

stations, kiosks.

• Internet access workstations up to 9,053; number of people

volunteering in libraries up to 16,695

• Total electronic periodical titles - up to nearly 7 million, an exciting

trend reflecting Ministry year-end support administered by SOLS

Trends 2010 to 2011 cont’d.

• Direct circulation up from 124 million to 132 million – reflects e-

books

• Reference transactions – down from 9.4 million to 8.6 million,

however electronic reference transactions up by 300,000.

• Library visits made in person – down from 77 million to 75 million

• Program types and attendees – up from 160K programs and 3.1

million attendees to 172K programs and 3.3 million attendees

Program types

• Early literacy and early learning – 50,429 programs with

1,061,590 attendees

• Other children’s programming – 22,758 programs with

459,565 attendees

• Class instruction at a library or school – 14,826 programs

with 404,054 attendees

• Newcomer focus – 7,528 programs with 135,993 attendees

• Adult learning – 7,384 programs with 99,500 attendees

• Seniors programing – 3,853 programs with 47,897

attendees

• Culture Days – 2,121 programs with 80,511 attendees

Partnerships and Initiatives

• 854 Consortia purchasing partnerships

• 536 Social Media initiatives

• 69 Shovel Ready Capital projects ready in next two years with

a total cost of $349 million

• 178 public libraries reported 490 cultural partnerships, of

which 86 with community museums, 76 with municipal

cultural planning partnerships, 69 with heritage organizations

and 51 with art galleries.

• 220 libraries reported 525 education sector partnerships

• 235 government sector partnerships

Government and Public Library Statistics

• The Annual Survey of

Public Librarieso Statistics – input and output;

summary and comparative data;

how used.

• Moving it to the next levelo Going beyond input and output

numbers

o Why measuring outcomes,

benefits and results is important

Public Library Statistics for 2012 and 2013

• 2012 release

• Plans for 2013o Timelines

o New Fields

o Thinking ahead - Outcomes

• Open Data

• Key Ratioso Using Key Ratios at the local level

o New Key Ratios?

• New Data fields for 2014 Survey –

New ideas!

Questions?