Neighborhood-based in -library use performance measures for public libraries: A nationwide study of majority-minority white/low income markets using personal digital date collectors.

Abstract

The practice of aggregating public library use data to a system-wide level (central library and branches) can mask the library needs of more specific groups of users. This article introduces a study that addressed this need, by identifying libraries serving majority White/low income and majority-minority markets, and surveying those populations to identify types and levels of use. The study is critical for current library research and practices for these reasons: (1) the increasing diversity in race/ ethnicity and languages spoken in U.S. communities; (2) low circulation rates exacerbated by increased Internet use; (3) mere existence of a library is critical to optimize use by populations without the library and reading experience; and (4) the recent release of the U.S. Public Library Geographic Database with neighborhood level census and library use data for all U.S. library jurisdictions. The methodologies developed offer potential for the collection of critical data for the public librarian of today