True - we are a much smaller library with less than 10,000 patrons! But our circulation software allows us to report how many memberships expire before a certain date. Then we can purge the ones who are inactive, but keep the unexpired ones who just never check anything out. Judith M. Bergeron Smithville Public Library 507 Main Street Smithville, TX 78957 TEL: 512/237-3282 ext. 2424 CELL: 512-848-5377 FAX: 512/237-4549 email: [email protected] website: www.smithvillepubliclibrary.org
________________________________ From: D Ricklefs <[email protected]> To: Judith Bergeron <[email protected]>; Laurie Mahaffey <[email protected]>; "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, April 8, 2010 10:43:55 AM Subject: RE: [ctls-l] Another question for CTLS members Then, if there is no record of transaction on the patron record, how do you know that the person is “active.” I suppose your library is small enough that one can handle this. At 100,000+ we know our customers less and less… Dale Ricklefs, Library Director Round Rock Public Library 216 E. Main Street, Round Rock, Texas 78664 512-218-7010; 218-7061 (fax); [email protected] Go to Facebook, and become a fan of Round Rock Public Library Visit our website at: http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/library We're on Twitter at RoundRockPL -------------------------------------------------------------- If you get a "mailbox full" or some form of message identifying delivery problems, please call me at one of the numbers above. Thank you! From:[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Judith Bergeron Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 9:46 AM To: Laurie Mahaffey; [email protected] Subject: Re: [ctls-l] Another question for CTLS members Some of our "active" members have never checked out a thing, but come in to use our internet regularly (although most will find something to take home with them at one visit or another). Our cards only get one year of circulation time before a membership update is requested, so for us the purge is done on cards that haven't been used or updated in a 4-year span (excluding those with outstanding items - some of whom have moved and haven't yet been tracked by the court system). Bottom line for us, an active member is one who has used the library in the last 4 years, even if they have checked nothing out. As to a typical percentage, that will be a good statistic to run (when I can). Knowing that there is a small percentage of folks that we see in several times a week, checking out several items, I'm sure they comprise the majority of our circulation. It will be interesting to see what proportion of our active patrons have checked something out in the last one, two, or three years. ________________________________ Judith M. Bergeron Smithville Public Library 507 Main Street Smithville, TX 78957 TEL: 512/237-3282 ext. 2424 CELL: 512-848-5377 FAX: 512/237-4549 email: [email protected] website: www.smithvillepubliclibrary.org ________________________________ From:Laurie Mahaffey <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, April 7, 2010 3:12:40 PM Subject: [ctls-l] Another question for CTLS members From:Barbara D. Hathaway [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 12:34 PM Subject: RE: Another question for CTLS members 1. I’m curious if there is a “best practices” nation-wide for public libraries, and whether it varies by the size of the library or rural vs. suburban vs. urban (which likely correlates to size) as to what they consider “active” patrons—that’s my first question. And then second, what is a typical percentage for “active” borrowers? In looking over my own stats for the past 3 years (since we moved to the Galleria and our growth exploded), if I look at people who’ve checked out an item within the last year, it’s 56% of registered borrowers; within past 2 yrs, 77%; within past 3 yrs, 81%. Those numbers (for past 2 and 3 years) seem high to me, so I wondered what an average or typical percent of active borrowers might be nation-wide or state-wide, so I can tell if we’re under- or over-performing or somewhere in the range of typical for our size. Any guidance anyone can give me on this is very much appreciated, and please feel free to share my question as widely as you like. 2. We are a relatively new library (opened in late 2005), and I’d like to get a feel for whether we are typical in the percentage of our patrons who are “active”, as well as how to define that term. This relates somewhat to yesterday’s question about purging inactive borrowers (thanks to all of you who replied, by the way!): a. How do you define “active borrowers” ? If we are supposed to purge inactive borrowers after 3 years, do you consider anyone who has checked something out within the past 3 years an “active” borrower? If not, what do you use—within the past year? Within past 2 years? b. What percentage of your registered borrowers are “active” under whatever definition you use? Thanks for all your help, everyone! Barbara Barbara Hathaway Library Director Bee Cave Public Library 4000 Galleria Parkway Bee Cave, TX 78738-6370 512.767.6620 Library 512.767.6624 Direct Line 512.767.6629 Fax http://pl.beecavetexas.gov [email protected] ________________________________
