It's hard to believe that today is Sept. 15 and October is right around the corner. That means it's time to start thinking about the annual report again.
Library service has made significant strides in 2021 to recover from the pandemic, but we are certainly not back to normal. Even so, libraries should progress as usual when it comes to the annual report. At this time we don't anticipate that any new reporting fields will be added this year.
As October approaches, it's a good time to think about conducting survey weeks for the 2021 Annual Report. If your library does not have, cannot afford, or encounters difficulty with people counter operation, then “survey week” numbers should be collected during a representative week in the fall, and extrapolated for a full year. If your library relies on survey week numbers for the Annual report, the survey should be taken soon and appropriate weeks marked on your calendar for future year collection. The Public Library Development Team in the Division for Libraries and Technology at the Department of Public Instruction recommends one week in April and another week in October. SCLS does have two people counter kits available for libraries to borrow.
The results of a survey week may differ greatly from previous years due to typical fluctuations in use (e.g., weather or school activities, and of course COVID), but should be reported as tallied (notes should be added to the annual report on specific questions using survey data to explain large increases or decreases). When the survey results are averaged over time, the survey numbers will more accurately represent library performance. If a survey week is not implemented and a count is not taken using another method, the library should report “Did Not Collect” for those service areas rather than entering an estimate or arbitrary number.
Survey weeks can also be used to collect data for Reference Transactions and Uses of Public Internet Computers.