Germany

• Der Bibliotheksindex. Home page for BIX
• Bibliotheksindex. Wikipedia. In German.
• DBS – Deutsche Bibliotheksstatistik

• Lust auf Lesen – Wie viele Bürger kennen ihre Bibliothek? – 51 pp.
  • Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Befragung – Frühjahr 2004
• Roswitha Poll. The house that Jack built.

2008

Germany has 2,138 libraries with a salaried director (332 million loans – 110 mill. visits). Turnover = 3.41

• public: 1,988 units – 307 mill. loans –  101 mill. visits – TO = 3.34
• Evangelical: 28 – .3
• Catholic: 97 – 7.8
• Other: 25 – 17.5

Germany has 6,410 libraries with voluntary management (37 million loans – 12.4 mill. visits). TO = 1.35

• public: 2,133 – 12.3
• Evangelical: 812 – 2.8
• Catholic: 3435 – 21.8
• Other: 30 – 0.16

The components of BIX

Note: Indicators are weighted according to their importance for customers by factors given in brackets.

Target dimension: Resources (task fulfilment)

• Collection units per capita (1,0):
  • Number of items in stock (excluding closed stocks) / capita)
  • includes all items in the library including periodicals and reference stock. Not included are closed stock items and special collections. The number of residents is derived from the official statistics of 31.12. each year.
• User floor space in sqm per 1000 capita (0,5)
  • : this includes all spaces accessible by the public, including halls, stairways, lobbies and functional rooms.
  • user floor space / (capita *1000)
• Employees per 1000 capita (1,0):
  • this includes not only permanent employees, but also temporary staff, volunteers, internships etc.
  • Employees are counted in Full Time Equivalents.
  • Number of employees in FTE / (capita *1000)
• Computer services in hours per capita (0,5):
  • this accumulates the total number of hours per year, during which computers are at the disposal of the public.
  • This includes OPACs, Internet-PCs, workstations etc.
  • Actual opening hours in all service points * number of computers available during these hours / capita
• Internet services (0,5):
  • Number of these services available
  • this index sums up various services the library offers via the internet: own homepage, OPAC accessible via the internet, interactive account management, electronic reference services (e.g. via e-mail), electronic materials and pro-active information services (e.g. newsletter)
• Events per 1000 capita (0,5):
  • Number of events per year / capita * 1000
  • this index points at the various types of events that are an important part of the cultural and educational work of libraries, e.g. guided tours, public readings, exhibitions, library soirees etc.

Target dimension: Customer Focus

• Library Visits per capita (1,5):
  • counts the number of visits for borrowing materials, use library services or take part in activities and guided tours
  • Total library visits / capita
• Loans per capita (1,0):
  • Loans and renewals / capita
  • this counts all materials borrowed, including renewals.
  • Variations in lending time are not taken into account
• Stock turnover rate (1,5):
  • Number of loans and renewals / number of stock (excluding closed stocks)
  • counts the amount of loans per item per year
• Total Opening hours per year per 1000 capita (1,0):
  • Total Number of (planned) opening hours per week / number of service points [?]
  • this states the actual number of opening hours in the current year of the library system including all branches.

Number of Service-Points: This number is not included in the index but given as additional information

Target dimension: Efficiency

• Acquisitions budget per loan (in Euros) (-0,5):
  • This indicator shows the relation between the expenditure on stock and the usage of stock.
  • this includes the budget actually spent on new materials, including binding, cataloguing data or licences.
  • Acquisitions budget / no. of loans incl. renewals
• Employee hours per opening hour (-0,5):
  • Total no. of employee hours/year / (total number of actual opening hours in all service points during one year)
  • states the relation between the total amount of employee time available (including sick leave and holidays) and the total amount of opening hours per year.
  • All types of employees are included (full-, and part time staff, temporary and permanent staff, volunteers, professional and non-professional staff).
  • Not included are staff working for property management (janitors, cleaners etc.)
• Visits per opening hour (0,5):
  • Total no of visits / total number of actual opening hours in all service points during one year
  • shows the average number of visits during one opening hour and how many visitor make use of the library.
• Current expenditure per visit (-0,5):
  • shows the relation between the current expenditure spent on the library (without one-off capital investments), and library use in total.
  • Includes actual expenditure on staff, materials and other current costs.
  • Not included are imputed costs, rents, and expenditure for staff working for property management (janitors, cleaners etc.)
  • Current library expenditure / total no of visits

8.4 Target Dimension: Development Focus

• Renewal rate (1,5):
  • the rate of stock exchanged by acquisitions and weeding.
  • (Number of items in stock – items removed + items added) / number of items in stock
• Advanced training per employee (0,2):
  • Total no. of hours spent on training / Total no. of employee hours/year
  • states the rate of employee time spent on training, education both in and outside the library, and conference visits
• Capital investment per capita (0,2):
  • expenditure on building, furniture, maintenance, technical equipment etc. (capital investment / capital)

Source: BIX – the Library Index. Basic information in English – Working Paper. March 9th, 2010

Contact and Information

Ulla Wimmer, Shirley Mc Leod
German Library Association, Network of Library Expertise. Straße des 17. Juni 114. 10623 Berlin. Germany

Tel.: +49 (30) 644 9899 -15, -14
wimmer@bibliotheksverband.de
mcleod@bibliotheksverband.de

»The House that Jack Built«: Über die Konsequenzen von Leistungsmessung

Dr. Roswitha Poll, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Münster Veröffentlicht im BIX-Magazin 2000

Kurzfassung einer Veröffentlichung in den »Proceedings of the 2nd Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services 1997«