Public Library Circulation, Anonymized Patron Access Records, and Budget Information

Bree Norlander filed this request with the Evansville-vanderburgh Public Library of Indiana.

It is a clone of this request.

Due March 3, 2020
Est. Completion None
Status
Awaiting Response

Communications

From: Bree Norlander


To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. Total circulation of library materials (broken down by material type) for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. Please provide these as aggregated monthly totals for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. If possible please include the following details:

-Total physical item circulation (delineated by first time check-outs versus renewals)
-Total number of circulations of electronic materials
-Total circulation
-Electronic Content Use
-Total Collection Use

2. Lost library items aggregated monthly for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

3. Patron circulation records including material due dates and material return dates for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. If possible, please provide these as hashed (de-identified but with unique key per patron).

4. Annual itemized library budget 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 including any donations made to the library. Please provide a record of donations collected aggregated monthly for these years. Please also provide a description of how donations are solicited.

5. The total revenue of fines and total revenue of fees collected 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

6. The current library policy on fines and fees and the date this policy took effect as well as dates of changes to the policy between 2016 and today.

7. The definition (if any) your library uses for "active borrower".

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This request is part of a research project by the Information School at the University of Washington to better understand how removal of library fines affects library circulation, patron visits, and library budgets. We are committed to open access and plan to make our findings broadly available to the public. If fees cannot be waived please inform us in advance.

We ask that, if possible, you please respond via email with data files in machine-readable format (examples include .csv, .txt., .xls/x) or if applicable text documents or clear, high-quality scanned PDFs. If you cannot reply electronically, please mail us the best quality copies you reasonably can. Your efforts help us ensure broad accessibility and equity.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Bree Norlander

From:

It is my understanding that there is a research project regarding library fines. We have received multiple FOIA requests for information. A recent fax from Bree Norlander is one of many we have received. I have also reached out previously to the iSchool to try and curb multiple requests.

We are currently closed until further notice due to COVID-19. I will try to find information that I can, but some things that have been requested are not public information and/or cannot be gathered. I am happy to assist with what I can, but I also point any students doing research to utilize the Indiana State Library statistics as much information can be found there: https://www.in.gov/library/plstats.htm.

Again, if I can be of assistance, I will try to be, but we are currently closed.

Thank you for understanding, and I hope that students will contact me directly in the future as it makes it easier to distribute information.

Thank you,

Heather McNabb

Engagement & Experience Officer

EVPL

From: Bree Norlander

To EVPL,

We understand that you are currently closed. Your health and safety are definitely the number one priority. Thank you for reaching out to us and we will look for the data we requested at https://www.in.gov/library/plstats.htm. We will withdraw this request and communicate with you directly if we have further questions. Take care.

Sincerely,
Bree Norlander
Research Analyst & Coordinator
University of Washington Information School
norlab@uw.edu

Files

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