An exploratory study to develop an alternative model of public library management using the institute of museum and library services' public library statistics

摘要

In this explorative study, we first investigate current use of public library statistics in public library management to identify a governing framework and then carefully suggest an alternative framework with income as a goal for sustainability. The meaning of income in terms of management is also discussed. Within this framework, we conduct a series of statistical analyses with public library statistics data for 2002-7. We first attempt to identify and control outside effects, such as service population and socioeconomic factors. After data screening and transformation, we conduct several statistical analyses, including factor and regression analyses. The significant results from regression analysis between income as a dependent variable and eleven independent variables provide evidence for the validity of the framework, with small effect size (14 percent). We discuss issues such as a linearity assumption, small effect size, and a unit period and offer suggestions for future studies to develop an alternative model.