HIT: Patron Count, Part 3

[Nancy Voltmer <voltmer@NETINS.NET>]

continued....
_______________
We have everyone who comes in and takes up our "time" to sign in.  That
includes community members (we have a lot of different services on our
campus and people come here to wait, etc.), teachers, and students.  I use
it both as a "classroom management system" and a "wish list" reasoning
method for more books, bigger facility, more computers etc.
______________
It is easy for us to keep a count, as the security system has a turnstile
(like at Disneyland) so everyone who exits gets counted.  I don't care why
the person was there, or how long they stayed.  It is my feeling that even if
they were there for 2 minutes to make a photocopy, they used the library.

I use the gate count, as well as the circulation statistics and the average
number of classes taught per day for the annual report. I submit the report
to the administration and the Board of Education.  I don't know if anyone
really CARES about these things, but I imagine that the majority at least
skim it. My goal is to just remain visible. It is less likely they will cut
items from me if they see i am doing things with what they gave me.  Of
course, I could just be wasting my time with the stats I keep and the reports
I write.  But, at least I try.
____________________
 We do keep patron counts  at the request of the county library supervisor.
We have students who come to  the library without a teacher sign in - even
if they are just making a copy (but  not if they are returning a book). I
also keep track of every class that comes  to the library. Our usage
statistics are important to continue to lobby for  funding and support at
the county level. I also find them helpful at the site  level to note
trends, busy and slow times of year, etc. Those statistics helped  me
decide when to plan a book fair this year, etc.
____________________
We keep two counts: Students coming in on their own and sign in and classes.
We turn these in to our coordinator. We don't count visitors or teachers.
_____________________
I count patrons who come in and stay awhile. I am in
the process of applying for a $5000 grant which
requires that 75% of the students use the library. My
sign in sheets will prove that criteria.It can also be
used to justify the need for additional staff should
the budget miraculously grow!
_____________________
We keep track for our quarterly reports to the district, with copies to
principal. I just keep track of classes, meetings & other special activities in
my lesson plan book, then multiply the number of classes by 30 (average size, I
figure) & the meetings by 20 or so.  Pass & lunch students sign in but I don't
really count them; I just figure an average # per day.  Before school we're
always full & after school we have a few, but I just figure an average for
these
too. We have people in & out constantly so I'm sure we have more traffic than I
count.  On the last report it averaged  325 or so per day; I'm sure we have
many
days with many more than that coming & going but then we have some when we're
semi-closed for a test or something. Really don't have time to actually
count --
too busy!
______________________
We have students sign in and out, and classes, too.  This allows me to prove
library use (numbers seem to be very impressive to administration).  I don't
make students sign in who are just returning a book, but everyone else
should.
______________________
I keep a count of bodies passing through our security system mostly to have
a little idea of how many per day come in.  I also have teachers sign up
for the library indicating # of students, what they plan to do and if they
need the computers for research or word processing.
_____________________
I require all students (we have secondary and college) to sign in as
soon as they enter the library.  High school students have to come on
a pass from studyhall and these are signed by the clerk at the circ.
desk and the student must return to his teacher with the signed pass.
I keep the records for the following reasons:
1. It functions as a roll book/attendance book
2. It helps to provide statistics on use since people always have an
"impression" of use but the numbers demonstrate what actually occurs.
3. If students need help from me, they indicate it at the time of
signing in.
4. At the beginning of each year I explain why they have to sign in
and there is some complaining, but eventually they just do it out of
habit.

I also keep a sign in book for teachers for class visits and include
the number of students.  Sometimes, four classes will be using the
same materials and I think the visits demonstrate use of the
materials when they don't circulate.
_________________________
I kept stats for years...and then wondered, why?  I wrote it up for my
yearly report, but who cared?  It did give me a picture of which DD numbers
were being used.  This was in the high school. I am really noticing the
lessened use of the library.  Research is on the computer; or not much is
being done in the classroom. Term papers seem to be a thing of the past.
What is going to happen to our libraries and the books that are collecting
dust on the shelves?  Some of the books are old...Info is out of date.  I
am really concerned about the use of the library.  One classroom teacher in
h.s. is establishing her own collection of fiction for the kids to read.
Less travel in the hall...all kinds of reasons are given.

 I use to count the number of books checked out each week in the elementary
library, but then changed my method of checking of books out.  I didn't
really need to know what was being checked out because there are so many
kids and each takes about 2 or 3 books a week, that it didn't make any
sense to count the number of books.

Automation is far in the distance, but the right thing would be to weed
thoroughly...which was done about ten years ago, before attempting this
project. Our school is small...I spend much more money in the Early
Childhood Center Library than I do for high school.  Seems like the books
would just be on the shelf collecting more dust.
I sound a bit negative, but am concerned about where our libraries are
going in the future!!
____________________
I do not have time to keep this statistic.  If questioned, I reply with the
number of classes that have been in - what help students have asked for,
etc.
_______________________
 I don't do it all year long but usually pick a time period--varying it
from year to year-- say 3rd 9 weeks this year.  I use the counter on my
3M security system and count every body that passes through the gate.
Secondly, I keep a log of all classes scheduled in the media center for
research (for the whole year), listing the class(es), no. of students,
and nature of the research/instruction.  If during the time I doing the
total count as described above, I keep total count, and also open
library vs. classroom usage by substracting the classes out of the
count.
   I used the statistics for varying purposes--budget, staffing
requests, personal knowledge of general usage, etc.  I won a grievance
last fall when a teacher challenged library staff not having hall
duty--she arguing that she had 140 students a day--I argued I had 360
student contacts a day teaching the vast majority one on one and no free
periods!!  She was a little overwhelmed by the stats but my principal
knew the figures, having had them shared with him previously!!
______________________
Yes, we attempt to count the number of patrons that visit our media
center.  I say "attempt" because it is nearly impossible to count students
that come in on passes and in unscheduled small groups.  So far this year
we've had almost 1800 class visits of approx. 47,000 students.  Our
enrollment is about 800 students in grades 6,7,8.

 I have been asked by our Principal to collect this data, and I think it's
helps our administration understand how important we are to learning in
our building.  We will also use it as we begin to develop a
media/information skills curriculum.
________________________

Nancy Voltmer, Media Specialist         voltmer@netins.net
Saydel High School
Des Moines, Iowa

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