AGENDA #5b
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: HAPLR Index 2003 Ranking of the Chapel Hill Public Library as First in the State.
DATE : February 23, 2004
This memo includes information about the 2003 Hennen’s American Public Libraries Rating (HAPLR) Index, which compares public library indicators for excellence (Attachment 1). The Index ranked North Carolina 33rd in the nation and the Chapel Hill Public Library 1st in the State, with a rating of 774 out of 1000.
BACKGROUND
Nationwide public library statistics are collected and disseminated annually through the Federal-State Cooperative System (FSCS) for public library data. Statistics are collected from approximately 9,000 public libraries. The Federal-State Cooperative System web site may be found at the following web site: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=041#052
The results of the 2003 Hennen’s American Public Libraries Rating (HAPLR) Index was. released mid-year by the U.S. Department of Education and published in the October 2003 American Libraries magazine. The Index used service measures and 2001 data reported to the Federal-State Cooperative System in 2002 to calculate public library performance nationwide.
As in four previous editions, the HAPLR Index gave the Chapel Hill Public Library the highest score of any public library system in North Carolina (774). This year, Southern Pines Public Library scored second (730) and New Hanover County Library in Wilmington scored third (724) in the State. Rankings for all North Carolina public libraries are attached (Attachment 2).
What the HAPLR Index Measures: The HAPLR Index includes weights and scores for fifteen factors (six input; nine output). Each library is evaluated within one of ten population groups. The scores for each library within a population category are then added to develop a weighted score.
The HAPLR Index focuses on circulation, staffing, collection, reference service, and funding levels. This means that it measures traditional data for print services, reference service, funding, staffing and book checkouts. Approximately one third of the HAPLR Index is sensitive to materials circulation.
In the future, additional measures will be added to evaluate these non-print and less traditional library services. Currently, the HAPLR Index does not include data on other items that could have been calculated from the federally gathered data, such as data on audio and video collections, interlibrary loan activity, or facility size.
Usefulness of the Available Data: Ten population categories are included in the 2003 HAPLR Index so that libraries can compare themselves to same-sized libraries in similar communities. The top ten libraries in Chapel Hill’s 2001 population category (48,902) received HAPLR ratings of 868-924 and included:
Washington-Centerville Public Library, Centerville, Ohio (924)
Elmhurst Public Library, Illinois (908)
Lake Oswego Public Library, Oregon (884)
James Prendergast Library Association, Jamestown, New York (882)
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library, Stow, Ohio (877)
Westlake Porter Public Library, Ohio (875)
Suffern Free Library, New York (873)
Shaker Heights Public Library, Ohio (872)
Wright Memorial Public Library, Ohio (870)
Warsaw Community Public Library, Indiana (868)
We believe that in the future and as more service measures are compiled for comparison, the HAPLR Index will provide Chapel Hill with increasingly useful statistics to compare its library services with similar public libraries located in academic communities.
Limitations of the Data: Critics state that the HAPLR Index cannot be used as a general measure of excellence for public libraries, because it does not measure all library services. This is because federal data have only been collected on a consistent national basis since 1981. Proponents state that as the data gathering process continues to be refined, Index results will provide increasingly consistent and useful information.
CONCLUSION
This report is presented for the Council’s information. We would be pleased to provide further information desired by the Council.
ATTACHMENTS
1. “Great American Public Libraries: The 2003 HAPLR Rankings” American Libraries, October 2003 (p. 3).
2. “Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings (by State) American Libraries, October 2003 (p. 8).