National Core Library Statistics Program: The 1996 Survey

This Program is the first in any country to develop a multi-sector approach, providing a new foundation and welcome resource for library planning, social policy development, and advocacy. It is also the first national program to rely on multiple sources for primary data; in this it is a truly collaborative venture. Most of the public library data, for example, originates with provincial agencies, and the data for large academic libraries comes from CARL. Post-secondary libraries outside the CARL membership and special libraries are canvassed directly through individually mailed questionnaires.

With the completion of the 1996 survey last summer, three consecutive years of data are now available for trend analysis and comparison. Plans are under way to begin collecting 1999 statistics this summer, with a target date of mid-2001 for analysis and reporting. School libraries have not been represented in the Program so far, although public libraries housed in schools were included. While discussions with representatives of the school library sector were initiated last year, planning is not far enough advanced to bring school libraries into the 1999 survey at this late date.

The National Core Library Statistics Program includes three broadly defined library sectors: public, academic and special libraries; special libraries encompass government libraries, other not-for-profit sector libraries and for-profit sector libraries. The Program is designed to capture several key indicators of the broad impact on Canadian society of library services provided by these three library sectors. For the purposes of the 1996 analysis, these impacts were organized into cultural and economic components.

A total of 1 643 libraries participated in the 1996 survey. The survey shows that librarians participating in the National Core Library Statistics Program for 1996 provided impressive cultural and economic benefits to the people of Canada that year:

• 30 million inquiries were made by library users, on average 82 000 per day
• 276 million publications (print and other materials) were borrowed by library users and an additional 90 to 140 million items were consulted on site, for an overall average of more than 1 million items in use every day of the year
• another 1 million items were borrowed by librarians from other libraries to satisfy library user requests for materials
• the libraries represent an infrastructure of more than 25 000 library staff, more than 280 million publications, 850 000 serial subscriptions, and 4 000 service points
• $1.4 billion in total expenditures went to provide library services

Methodologically speaking, the National Core Library Statistics Program is able to capture only part of the picture of total library usage by Canadians because so many libraries did not participate in the past; as well, even among those that did send in questionnaires, not all of them answered all of the survey questions. When this is taken into consideration, it becomes clear that total library activity in Canada in 1996 far exceeded the levels reported by the Program. Total inquiries in 1996 are estimated to have been in the order of 50 to 100 million transactions, and total use of materials both on and off site amounted to more than 1 billion items. It is also estimated that library service expenditures in 1996 exceeded $2 billion and may have been as high as $3 billion to $4 billion. These figures reveal the significant contribution that Canadian librarians make to social progress and economic growth every day everywhere across the country. The 1999 survey report will focus more fully on imputing estimates to paint the "big picture" of library usage levels in Canadian society beyond the data collected by the 1999 Program itself.

Several important dimensions of library service are not captured at present in the Program, in particular unassisted use of electronic information. Given the complex nature of library services and impacts, the challenge in future years will be to move beyond traditional measures to articulate a conception of library value that is at once multidimensional and yet also standardized and universal.

We should remember, however, in the quest for quantitative description, that each and every library transaction represents a "moment of truth" in the lives of Canadian library users, an opportunity for personal and professional satisfaction and growth. That is what a service orientation means.

Librarians contribute to Canada’s quality of life on a daily basis by making the records of human culture available to a wide range of the general public: children of all ages from pre-school to high school, teachers, post-secondary students and faculty, and employers and employees in the government, not-for-profit and corporate sectors. In its goal to become a knowledge-based society, it is difficult to imagine what this country would look like without librarians at the forefront, adding substantial value to an ever-expanding universe of cultural, educational, literary, artistic, and business information and publications.

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Additional Information

Manning, Ralph W. -- "Counting Canadian Libraries". -- Feliciter. -- Vol. 43, no. 9 (1997). -- P. 40-43

Manning, Ralph W. -- "National Core Library Statistics Program". -- National Library News. -- Vol. 29, no. 2 (Feb. 1997). -- P. 11-12

Manning, Ralph W. -- "National Core Library Statistics Program : The Second Year". -- National Library News. -- Vol. 30, nos. 7-8 (July/Aug. 1998). -- P. 11-12

Schrader, Alvin M.; Brundin Michael R. -- National Core Library Statistics Program : Statistical Report, 1996 : Cultural and Economic Impact on Canadian Society of Public, Academic, and Special Libraries. -- Ottawa, Ont. : National Library of Canada, (July 1999). -- Also available at http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/coopprog/96nclsp/enclsp.pdf