Now we look at community penetration:
Active Cardholders as a Percentage Of Population (Resident) at Ontario’s Public Libraries, 2001-2013: FOPL Data Report, Second Series
In the earlier series of reports looking at the Ontario Public Library data, we discussed the variable measuring each library’s active cardholders and have used it in calculations as a means of providing an alternate to the traditional per capita which is based on resident population. This alternative calculation using cardholders had the advantage of giving us a measure of use by the actual users of the library as opposed to the residents of an area who have rights to use a library but may—or may not—avail themselves of that right in a measurable way. While many libraries require users to have library cards to use the library’s resources, not all do. As a result, not all potentially measurable use of the Ontario libraries is, in fact, measured. What we demonstrated in that earlier series was that the percentage of cardholders to the resident population had peaked in 2002 and was in general decline through the end of that data series with what appeared to be an upturn after the 2008 low. What do the three new years of data tell us about this percentage?
The table and chart on the next page tell the story: the percentage continues its decline for all Ontario’s public libraries. Only Band 8, which includes libraries with fewer than 2,501 in resident population, does not show a decline in aggregate from 2001 to 2013.
The table below has data we have seen before in other reports with an emphasis on the percentages here by Bands. Circulations per capita is calculated as the average of each library’s Annual Direct Circulations divided by the Resident Population, by year.
The cardholders as a percentage of resident population over the period is examined in aggregate for all the libraries at the bottom of the first section of the table (in bold.) In the earlier report, we saw a low point in 2008 and what appeared to be a bit of a rebound. The line chart at the bottom of the page, has these same data plotted. In the table and the chart, we see the overall downward movement for all libraries with the same low point for the 301 libraries in 2008 (48.8%) we saw in the first report with its analysis of 304 libraries. Now we see that 2013 had levels lower than we saw in the 2008 data falling to 47.6%.
The bottom of the Table has the percentage of each Band’s active cardholders to resident population from 2000-2013. This percentage varies by year and by Band but if the reader examines the two right columns were we have again presented the changes over time. The first column shows the change from 2001 to 2013 and the second from 2008-2013.
Looking at the rows by band, there is a richer picture: we can see the widely varying experiences of the different Bands’ libraries and several are showing increases in this ratio since 2008. However, we can glean from the Table that as resident population rose 28% from 2001, active cardholders fell by 1% while circulations rose by 32%.
Here is this week’s chapter: W9_Active_Cardholders
Stephen Abram
Executive Director, FOPL