National Report of 2007 Program Statistics - Executive Summary / Key Findings

National Report of 2007 Program Statistics
For Library and Archives Canada

Executive Summary / Key Findings

November 2007

Proprietary Warning

The information contained herein is proprietary to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and may not be used, reproduced or disclosed to others except as specifically permitted in writing by the originator of the information. The recipient of this information, by its retention and use, agrees to protect the same and the information contained therein from loss, theft or compromise. Any material or information provided by LAC and all data collected by Decima will be treated as confidential by Decima and will be stored securely while on Decima's premise (adhering to industry standards and applicable laws).

Acknowledgements

Decima Research would like to extend its thanks to the many people who assisted with the TD Summer Reading Club (TDSRC) Statistics and Evaluation project. In particular, we would like to thank Francine Proulx, Program Manager, and Lianne Fortin, Project Officer, Library and Archives Canada, for their guidance and commentary throughout the project. We would also like to thank the provincial and regional coordinators for their assistance in communicating with their library systems, as well as the library systems that took the time to compile the statistics from their branches and affiliates. Lastly we cannot overlook the contribution of the individual libraries that devoted their time to providing their program statistics.

The TDSRC is made possible thanks to the joint initiative between TD Bank Group (TDBG), Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and the Toronto Public Library (TPL).

Executive Summary / Key Findings

Objectives and Methodology

Library and Archives Canada's (LAC) interest in conducting this study was to provide TD Bank Group with accurate information about the success of the TD Summer Reading Club (TDSRC).

As libraries are organized differently in each province and territory, LAC had to identify a common denominator to respond to the evaluation. For most regions, the library systems were identified as the online evaluation respondents. A library system refers to either the main branch of a library with many library branches, an individual library, or a regional library system with many affiliated libraries. In some cases the evaluation respondents were the individual libraries, a similar procedure as the one followed in 2006. Such an example is the Toronto Public Library whose system includes 93 library branches. Each branch within the Toronto Public Library was sent a link to complete their own evaluation form.

In most regions, the individual library branches were asked to provide the necessary information regarding the program to their library system using the Statistics and Evaluation Form found on the reading club website and in the Staff Manual. The library systems then compiled the data and filled out a unique online Statistics and Evaluation Form on the TD Summer Reading Club, using Decima's online evaluation.

Decima Research sent out 522 email invitations in both official languages to public libraries (systems) within the eleven participating provinces and territories, explaining the process of evaluating the program. In total, 499 evaluations were collected between August 27th and October 4th, 2007, yielding an 85% response rate.

Where possible, comparisons have been made to data from previous years. It is important to note that in 2004 LAC gathered data for the following 7 regions: Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Comparisons have been made to 2005 and 2006 data for all the eleven participating provinces and territories.

Research Results

The research highlights include the following:

Statistics on Participation

Within the eleven participating provinces and territories, there are currently 747 public library systems, for a total of 2,902 localities. Of the 747 library systems, 575 library systems participated in the TDSRC program during the summer of 2007. Within these 575 systems, a total of 1,706 branches (localities) participated in the program.

In total, 257,463 reading kits were distributed across Canada by the participating libraries, as well as 100,770 posters. The number of TDSRC materials handed out to children, teachers, daycare providers, parents and other caregivers totals 358,233.

An estimated 248,016 children registered for the TDSRC 2007 program. Girls comprise 136,422, or 55% of the participants, while the 111,594 boys represent 45% of the participants.

The estimated number of children's library materials circulated within participating library systems reached just over 5.5 million. The circulation recorded on children's library cards is approximately 2.3 million.

Program Statistics¹

A total of 21,367 programs and activities were organized around this year's club theme entitled Lost Worlds. Total attendance at these programs and activities amounted to 433,723 children, which translates to an approximate average of 20 children per activity.

Overall, 35% of library systems ran their summer reading club exclusively as a drop-in program, whereas 23% of the systems ran theirs solely as a reading club. Another third (33%) of the systems ran the summer reading club both as a drop-in and as a club. About 10% did not indicate using either approach.

In total, 69% of the library systems used stickers as incentives for children to read more books. Among these systems, over 113,000 children reached the target of collecting all nine stickers.

On average, each child read approximately 8 books, which calculates to a total of 1,984,126 books read as part of the summer reading club².

Promotion of the Program

Three-quarters of the library systems (72%) indicate that their library staff made visits to schools and daycares to promote the summer reading club. In total, 9,671 visits were made to schools and daycares, and 380,065 children were reached by these means.

Roughly 66,000 participants (27%) first heard of the TDSRC through staff promotion in the branch, while about 63,700 (26%) first heard via a school invitation or a presentation at a school or daycare. About 55,000 (22%) are last year's participants.

Overall Satisfaction

Satisfaction was high across the libraries. Close to 9 in 10 libraries are "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the relevance of content in the logbook, and at least 4 in 5 have an appreciation for this year's theme, are satisfied with the quality of the logbook, the visual representation of the theme in the materials provided, and the program posters. Around 4 in 5 are satisfied with the website overall, the relevance of content of the staff manual and the promotional materials.

Comments and Suggestions

An increase in the excitement to read and share books is reported as the most common indicator of reading successes from the reading club (24% of library systems who answered this question listed this as an indicator). Other indicators include the enjoyment of the children with the program (20%), the prizes and stickers as incentives to read (14%), and the sparked undiscovered joy in reluctant participants (14%).

The most common testimonials from parents, caregivers and/or teachers are that the children are reading more frequently (31% of library systems and branches who answered this question listed these as testimonials). Comments also indicate that the parents were enthusiastic and appreciated the program (24%), and that the reading skills of children improved (23%).

A number of different themes are proposed for future programs, the most widespread ones relating to animals or pets, the environment, and multiculturalism.

A number of systems comment on the excellent program and high quality of the materials provided. The most common suggestion for the TDSRC is that the posters and stickers can be improved, and also to provide space to include information on the posters, invitations or logbook.

The following tables summarize some of the key statistics collected.

1. Only libraries that had recorded this information provided data for this section. Because data is not available for a number of libraries that completed the evaluation form, too many assumptions would be required to extrapolate the statistics to all 1,706 participating localities. Thus, results shown in this section are based on only those that answered these questions.

2. Total number of books reported on and total hours read has not been extrapolated due to the low numbers of systems that provided this information.