FY2024 Proposed Budget

Iowa City Public Library Statistics

General Library Data Discrepancies Performing a comparative analysis between local jurisdictions is an imperfect process. Data are influenced by differences in definitions, reporting, and collection measures. It must be noted that it is important to focus on the trends in the data between communities rather than any one specific data point. While measures have been taken to universalize and standardize the data, the trend in the data is the most valuable information provided. More specifically, some of the factors that influence the comparability of Library data are: • Nonresident borrower ratio: The ratio of resident to nonresident borrowers can influence funding for materials acquisition and program planning. Generally, jurisdictions are more inclined to fund materials and programming for their own residents. • Some variation in the number of borrowers may be attributed to the frequency with which jurisdictions remove inactive borrower records. All other conditions being equal, jurisdictions that purge records frequently tend to report fewer registered borrowers than jurisdictions that purge infrequently. • Because some jurisdictions provide library services to neighboring jurisdictions by means of contract or other official agreement, the size of the service area may be larger than the population of the jurisdiction. • Variations in library expenditures may be attributed to differences in the number of library facilities, the hours of operation, and the size and scope of holdings and programs. • Also possibly influencing expenditure levels is citizen demand for library services; traditional library services such as book loans and reference assistance as well as less traditional library ‐ based services such as Internet access, adult literacy programs, and more. • Some differences in the number of items circulated during the reporting period may be attributed to the size of a jurisdiction’s library collection and the proportion of the collection that circulates outside the library. For example, an increasing number of jurisdictions offer access (both in ‐ library and remote) to substantial electronic holdings that do not circulate outside the library per se and, therefore, may not be reflected in circulation statistics. • Differences result depending on expenses that may or may not be included in overall budgets such as building cleaning, grounds upkeep, and various technology expenses.

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