Comments on: Library Board Acts on Budget, Infrastructure

By: Fred Zimmerman

Fred Zimmerman — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 21:15:39 +0000

Having the elevator out of service for months is a serious issue! The tone of the discussion sounds a bit too accepting. WHat happened to the preventative maintenance? There should be some intermediate stages between “working fine” and “out of service for months, $100K to repair.” Does the library need to budget more for preventative maintenance in the future? Does the library need a bigger capital reserve so it can fix this stuff faster? When things are allowed to break this badly and for this long, that is a worrisome sign.

By: Lyn Davidge

Lyn Davidge — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 20:21:35 +0000

@3: Right. I did not mean to suggest in any way that quality is lacking at AADL, or that quantity and quality are completely unrelated. I did wish to clarify that the 5-stars are assigned on the basis of certain items of quantitative data, and that Library Journal itself is careful to point this out (see FAQ in link above). Quality is indeed subjective and, I assume, much more difficult to measure. I may be a Grinch, but I’m no statistician!

See you at the meeting tonight, June 16, readers! 7 PM at Traverwood.

By: Donald Salberg

Donald Salberg — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 04:55:28 +0000

While I agree with Lyn Davidge that the AADL should not exaggerate the meaning of its 5 star award from the LIbrary Journal, I do not agree that quantity of services does not reflect on the quality of services. One can argue that if service is poor usage will decline. In this regard quantity is an indirect and variable reflection of quality, which in itself suffers from being subjective.

By: Lyn Davidge

Lyn Davidge — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 02:10:50 +0000

AADL is justifiably proud of having received the 5-star rating in the Library Journal (LJ) Index of Public Library Service. After unscientifically sampling websites of other “Star Libraries” around the country, I’d guess that every library so designated does at least a little bragging on the fact. So, I risk being designated the June Grinch by saying that I think it’s time to give it a rest, at least ‘til next time. The fact is that the data used in selecting Star Libraries is limited and inconsistent. The LJ Index serves a very specific purpose, looking only at per capita library use statistics in four areas: library visits (AADL’s door counts), circulation, program attendance and public internet terminal use. It is an award based on quantity. There are no standardized definitions of the four categories. For example, AADL’s circulation per capita is much higher than that of the other 5 star libraries in its peer budget group. But many if not most of those libraries have some restriction on renewals, and AADL does not. It’s possible that some libraries do not count renewals in their circulation report at all, whereas many, including AADL do. It could be argued that the Board was comparing apples to oranges in its allusion to the 5-star ranking in the Director’s evaluation. The evaluation speaks to quality of performance (i.e. the service provided by the Director) while the LJ Index speaks to quantity of usage of certain services. Additional information on the LJ Index and the Star Libraries it identifies can be found at: [link]

By: Lyn Davidge

Lyn Davidge — Sat, 14 Jun 2014 18:37:23 +0000

A reminder to all:

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2014

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY
TRAVERWOOD BRANCH LIBRARY
3333 TRAVERWOOD DRIVE (at Huron Parkway)
ANN ARBOR, MI

6:00 P.M. CLOSED SESSION
7:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING

Let’s see a good turnout as the Board goes “on the road” for the summer. It’s a good opportunity for those who have difficulty getting downtown, for whatever reason, to attend, and participate in, the deliberations of a lesser-watched governmental entity but one that’s nevertheless important to our community and that may or may not always be spending tax dollars as we would wish. Whatever your feelings about AADL or Board decisions, it’s important for them to hear directly from YOU!