Missouri public libraries

Another post commenting on Chapter 20 of Give Us a Dollar and We’ll Give You Back Four (2012-13)–now available as a $9.99 Kindle ebook or $21.95 paperback with ISBN 978-1481279161 on Amazon, along with the usual Lulu options.

The 148 profiled libraries in Missouri (two libraries omitted) tend toward light funding, with only 26% spending $31 or more (compared to 50% overall). Circulation per capita is on the low side, with only 37% circulating eight or more items per capita (compared to 50% overall); spending does correlate with circulation throughout (although that’s not always true on the budget side). Patron visits are slightly on the low side. Program attendance is distinctly low: 53% of the libraries have less than 0.2 attendance per capita, compared to 31% overall. Meanwhile, PC use is typical.

Libraries by legal service area

LSA Count % Outliers
<700 1
700-1,149 4 2.7% 1
1,150-1,649 11 7.4%
1,650-2,249 11 7.4%
2,250-2,999 7 4.7%
3,000-3,999 8 5.4%
4,000-5,299 15 10.1%
5,300-6,799 7 4.7%
6,800-8,699 8 5.4%
8,700-11,099 13 8.8%
11,100-14,099 11 7.4%
14,100-18,499 8 5.4%
18,500-24,999 11 7.4%
25,000-34,499 10 6.8%
34,500-53,999 7 4.7%
54,000-104,999 8 5.4%
105,000-4.1 mill. 9 6.1%

Circulation per capita and spending per capita

Correlation between circulation per capita and spending per capita is extremely strong at 0.84.

Circulation per capita plotted against spending per capita

Circulation per capita (rounded) occurrence by spending category

Comments are closed.