Leverage the Index for Your Library
Ray Lyons & Keith Curry Lance -- Library Journal, 2/15/2009
Here are a few ideas regarding what should be done with the LJ Index of Public Library Service ratings.
Your library's LJ Index rating is just one assessment. Your library undoubtedly uses other statistics, for instance, your state's annual statistical report, the Bibliostat Connect and IMLS peer comparison tools, the federal Public Libraries in the U.S. reports, and so on. If you are not using some of these other sources, please try one.
Since the LJ Index rates libraries on four representative service outputs, it measures what may be thought of as “prerequisites” for library quality and value. A library that excels on the Index is very likely to be headed in the direction of high service quality and excellence. No index based on standard library statistics can legitimately claim to identify “the best” public libraries. Rather, we offer the LJ Index to help paint part of a picture of overall library performance. The ratings should be one among several sources of information indicating your library's performance in your community. Whether your library receives a star rating or not, examine each of the indicators in the context of the libraries ranked around yours—not just your library's final score. If you find that statistical differences with peers are meaningful to your library, decide how to incorporate the LJ Index in a more comprehensive assessment process. Your library also has data on other service outputs for which national data is unavailable. You should also consider more qualitative input, such as results of user outcome surveys and focus group interviews.
If the LJ Index of Public Library Service project is to be successful, its design cannot be cast in stone. LJ has instituted this index as an incentive for libraries to improve and expand their data, maximize its use, and thereby increase the capacity of public library data as one resource for making better decisions about library services.
What other outputs are being tracked in your state or by your library? The four outputs in this initial version of the LJ Index are not the only conceivable ones. Yet for new indicators to be incorporated, IMLS and the state library agencies must agree to collect and report them.
Finally and most important, when your library reviews its LJ Index of Public Library Service status each year, please give it more than superficial attention. If your library is in a starred category, it will be tempting to brag and no more. Don't use your score—or any other statistics—like a drunk uses a lamppost, “more for support than illumination.” If your library is not in a starred category, don't ignore this project. With the resources on the LJ web site and Bibliostat Connect and the insights from your peer libraries, you can engage in more in-depth assessment and more improvement-oriented planning. If you experiment with any of these uses of the Index, be in touch. The online version of this article has a “Models You Can Use” section to share your success stories and how you use these ratings. There's also a feedback section, where all can debate current and future versions of the LJ Index. Our hope is that thoughtful review and use of the LJ Index of Public Library Service will make true “winners” of as many public libraries as possible.
(For an FAQ, go here.)
