AGENDA #5g
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: HAPLR Index 2005 Ranking of the Chapel Hill Public Library as First in the State
DATE: November 21, 2005
This memo provides information about the 2005 Hennen’s American Public Libraries Rating (HAPLR) Index that annually compares public library indicators for excellence. The new, seventh edition of the Index ranks Chapel Hill Public Library first in the State, with a score of 808 out of 1000.
BACKGROUND
Every year, nationwide statistics from approximately 9,000 public libraries are collected and compiled annually by the Federal-State Cooperative System (FSCS). Since 1999, the HAPLR Index has used the FSCS data to calculate public library performance nationwide, using six input and nine output measures. Libraries serving similar-sized populations are compared with one another. The author adds the scores for each library to develop a weighted score in each population category.
The 2005 HAPLR Index was published in October. Nationally, the top 10 public libraries in Chapel Hill’s population category received HAPLR ratings of 866-947 (Attachment 1). Chapel Hill Public Library’s rating of 808 places it at the top of the North Carolina public library list, followed by Southern Pines Public Library (725) and Hickory Public Library (707). Ratings for all North Carolina public libraries are attached (Attachment 2).
What the HAPLR Index Measures: The HAPLR Index currently evaluates scores of traditional library activities such as circulation, staffing, collection, reference service, and funding levels. One third of the HAPLR Index is sensitive to materials circulation. In the future, less traditional measures such as electronic resources, non-print collections (audio and video collections), interlibrary loan activity and facility size data will also be included in the HAPLR rating system.
Usefulness of the Available Data: Availability of federal data is limited because data have only been collected on a consistent national basis since 1981. Critics believe that the HAPLR Index cannot be used as a general measure of excellence for all public libraries because it does not measure all library services. Proponents believe that HAPLR Index results will provide increasingly consistent and useful information as the data gathering process continues to be refined.
We believe that technology and other, less traditional, library services are indeed measures of a library’s usefulness to its community that should be included in the HAPLR Index as soon as possible. We also believe that as more service measures are compiled for comparison nationally, the HAPLR Index will provide Chapel Hill with increasingly useful statistics to compare its library services with other public library systems, especially those located in academic communities.
CONCLUSION
This report is presented for the Council’s information.
ATTACHMENTS
1. “Great American Public Libraries: The 2005 HAPLRRankings” American Libraries, October 2005 http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/selectedarticles/hennen2005.pdf (p. 3).
2. “Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings (by State),” October 2005 http://www.haplr-index.com/States/nc.html (p. 10).