Friday 1 March 2013

Sunderland statistics 1 - Our Libraries must not close!

I have been following the debate in our newspaper, the Sunderland Echo, with a great deal of interest, because I owe a lot to the library system, and also because as a teacher, I have seen for myself how children benefit from visits there. I was particularly appalled by the recent article on how they were simply not used much these days. A noted local author, Terry Deary, used the phrase "long overdue," which I found particularly infuriating.
Interesting that in a BBC interview, he complains that he objects primarily because a book read in a library generates much lower royalties than selling a book. Not an attitude that does him any credit.
Not being one to take the council's word for it (cynic? Moi?­­) I put in a Freedom of Information request so I could see the exact figures and analyse them for myself. Here they are.
Library loans
2010/11
2011/12
Decrease %
(my figures)
Bunny Hill
50035
46269
7.5
City Library
341824
318481
6.8
Doxford Park
38487
32223
16.3
East Herrington
27827
25644
7.8
Easington Lane
12131
10233
15.6
Fence Houses
9064
7708
15.0
Fulwell
85868
77370
9.9
Hendon
31068
29781
4.1
Hetton
39277
36468
7.2
Houghton
80176
71388
11.0
Kayll Road
58096
50651
12.8
Monkwearmouth
27271
26995
1.0
Ryhope
30978
30321
2.1
Sandhill
35304
34499
2.3
Shiney Row
47413
46222
2.5
Silksworth
41741
39796
4.7
Southwick
30837
30554
0.9
Washington Green
21521
20248
5.9
Washington Millenium Centre
42256
39843
5.7
Washington Town Centre
140445
130055
7.4
Whole City
1191619
1104749
7.3

So. Yes most libraries show a decrease in loans, ranging from 1.0 to 16.3%. But hang on a minute, that's somewhat deceptive. Look at the bottom line! Across the city, 1,104,749 books were borrowed in 2011/12, down slightly (7.3%) from 1,196,619 the previous year! That's well over a million books being borrowed in the city in a single year! What was it Deary said? Libraries have had their day? Pull the other one, it's got bells on.

Reducing libraries is a way of restricting information: it's an attack on our freedom to learn.
Alright: so we've established that there's a healthy borrowing rate in Sunderland. Let's dig further. Five of the libraries show a higher decrease in borrowing - Doxford Park 16.3%, Easington Lane 15.6%, Fence Houses 15%, Houghton 11% and Kayll Road 12.8%. What explanation can I suggest for this.
First of all Kayll Road, the library I went to for my first 20 years: easy. Parking next to the Hospital has always been a nightmare, and much more so in the last couple of years.
 Doxford Park is closed some days, and is tiny: still it manages a respectable 32,223 loans. I could also point out that in recent years, huge numbers of houses have been demolished in its hinterland, and regeneration of the area is ongoing.
Easington Lane, and Fence Houses are more difficult, but I notice that these libraries are only open for part of the time; Fence Houses only for half days, so perhaps a community survey could make it more efficient. I don't know Houghton well enough to comment.
Back to the statistics. I also asked for borrower numbers, so here they are.
Library
2010/11
2011/12
% change
(my figures)
Bunny Hill
1823
1822
-0.1
City Library
17744
16380
-7.7
Doxford Park
979
867
-11.4
East Herrington
698
657
-5.9
Easington Lane
337
308
-8.6
Fence Houses
234
198
-15.4
Fulwell
2771
2578
-7.0
Hendon
725
762
+5.1
Hetton
1495
1303
-12.8
Houghton
3446
3130
-9.2
Kayll Road
1886
1719
-8.9
Monkwearmouth
409
342
-16.4
Ryhope
1126
1142
+1.4
Sandhill
1127
1116
-1.0
Shiney Row
1441
1458
+1.2
Silksworth
862
838
-2.8
Southwick
866
844
-2.5
Washington Green
282
259
-8.2
Washington Millenium Centre
1049
975
-7.1
Washington Town Centre
6898
6391
7.3
Whole City
46198
43089
6.7

Once again, initially there seems to be a decline, though over the whole city, it's very small - 43,089 lenders in 2011/12 from 46,198 in the previous year, but look! Three libraries are actually increasing their membership:- Hendon, Ryhope and Shiney Row. Not declining at all there! You can spot the smaller libraries from the data though, and I can see that Fence Houses must be a tiny library. Yet those 198 borrowers managed to read a total of 7708 books last year! This is a nice segue for my cross-referencing of the data to calculate the average number of books borrowed by a lender at each library, for reasons which will become obvious.
Library
books per lender 2010/11
books per lender 2011/12
Bunny Hill
27.4
25.4
City Library
19.3
19.4
Doxford Park
39.3
37.2
East Herrington
39.9
39.0
Easington Lane
36.0
33.2
Fence Houses
38.7
38.9
Fulwell
31.0
30.0
Hendon
42.9
39.1
Hetton
26.3
28.0
Houghton
23.3
22.8
Kayll Road
30.8
29.5
Monkwearmouth
66.7
78.9
Ryhope
27.5
26.6
Sandhill
31.3
30.9
Shiney Row
32.9
31.7
Silksworth
48.4
47.5
Southwick
35.6
36.2
Washington Green
76.3
78.2
Washington Millenium Centre
40.3
40.9
Washington Town Centre
20.4
20.3
Whole City
25.8
25.6

Now this shows one or two very interesting pieces of information. Note the figures for Monkwearmouth, one of the most deprived areas of the city, with lots of social housing and high rise flats. Astonishingly, the average number of books borrowed there is a staggering 78.9 per borrower, per year, up from 66.7 in the previous year. So in the area where people are most likely to be poor and unemployed, or by whatever poverty criteria you care to use, reading is at its highest in the whole city. It says an awful lot for the people there that they aren't the skivers popular myths and stereotypes would have us believe, but in fact, try hardest to learn, though they can least afford to buy books. Of course the population there is boosted by students from the University but this just underlines for me the importance of libraries for young people. How can anyone say that libraries are going out of fashion, given such evidence. To reinforce this, other "deprived" areas such as Hendon, with a borrowing rate of 39 books per reader, and Silksworth with 47 books/reader also have a healthy reading population. I find myself far more optimistic for the human condition. Except of course, for councillors!

2 comments:

  1. Brilliant work. Looks positive to me that the libraries are still being used and booming.

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  2. What a brilliant piece of research, absolutely spot on. As former library employee, might I also mention that a significant library users don't actually borrower books but make regular use the other services provided. Reading groups, knit and natter, family activities, internet access, local and family history research etc etc etc..... With or without books, our libraries are still very much in demand.

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