Library Ratings
Author Speaks at Long Island Library Conference May 9, 2001
Press release
Contact for further information:
Email: thennen@haplr-index.com
Web site: http://www.haplr-index.com
Contact by ordinary mail:
Thomas J. Hennen Jr.
6014 Spring Street
Racine, WI 53406
Contact by phone: 262-886-1625
Contact by fax: 262-886-5424
Long Island librarians heard recently how they fared
in a November 2000 report published in American Libraries, the
official publication of the American Library Association.
Most Long Island libraries are in the top quarter of
libraries nationwide. The
author of the report, Thomas J. Hennen Jr., will spoke at May 9th at an
annual gathering of librarians.
Hennen’s
American Library Ratings are called HAPLR scores. The ratings are available on the world wide web at: http://www.haplr-index.com
Hennen
compiled a special report that compares the (HAPLR) scores of Nassau and
Suffolk counties to their peers nationwide.
Hennen noted that, when compared to libraries nationally, Long Island
libraries:
- are far better supported financially.
- devote a smaller share of their budgets to materials.
- spend more per resident on library materials.
- are more fully staffed.
- have more magazines to offer than their national counterpart
libraries at all but the smallest population levels.
- have more books to choose from.
- have higher costs per circulation.
- are visited much more often.
- have a slightly lower collection turnover rate.
- lend fewer items per staff member.
- lend more items per resident.
- answer more reference questions per resident.
- check out about the same number of items per open hour except for
the 50K population group which checks out many more.
- are visited more per hour than must U.S. libraries – especially
in the 10,000 to 99,999 population range.
- borrow about the same number of items per visit.
HAPLR 2000 is featured in the November 2000 issue of American
Libraries magazine, a publication of the American Libraries Association.
The previous edition was featured in the September 1999 issue.
Hennen's American Public Library Ratings, HAPLR (tm), attempt to
identify the best public libraries in America. Statistics cannot do it
alone, but they are part of the answer.
The HAPLR Index uses six input and nine output measures. The author
added the scores for each library within a population category to develop a
weighted score. The population
categories change at 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, 100,000,
250,000, and 500,000.
The HAPLR Index is similar to an ACT or SAT score with a theoretical
minimum of 1 and a maximum of 1,000, although most libraries score between
260 and 730.
The HAPLR Index web site expands on the information in American
Libraries articles. The site
provides a method for obtaining score cards and rating sheets for individual
public libraries. It also provides further information on the rating index
and other services provided by the author.
All three editions of the ratings have seen extensive media
attention.
Thomas J. Hennen Jr., the author of the HAPLR Index,
has nearly 25 years worth of experience in public libraries.
He has been a speaker for library associations throughout the U.S.
and Canada. Library periodicals
such as Library Journal, American Libraries, and the Australian Library and
Information Science Journal have published over 30 of his articles. He is
presently the Director of the Waukesha County Federated Library System.
|
Popul
Category
|
Number of
Libraries
|
HAPLR
Score
|
Average
Percentile
score of
group
|
|
100K
|
1
|
605
|
70%
|
|
50
K
|
5
|
709
|
84%
|
|
25
K
|
38
|
627
|
71%
|
|
10
K
|
36
|
619
|
71%
|
|
5K
|
18
|
616
|
69%
|
|
2.5K
|
4
|
672
|
80%
|
|
1K
|
3
|
690
|
84%
|
|
0k
|
3
|
497
|
52%
|
|
Total/Avg
|
108
|
626
|
71%
|
end
HAPLR
ratings are based on data from the U.S. Federal-State Cooperative
Service, but only the
author, Thomas J. Hennen Jr., is responsible for ratings data at
this site.