Trends in HCPLC Budget and Use in the Post-Digitization Era

In my two years of working with HCPLC, the system has been pushing to promote their digital resources. A number of popular books, movies, and magazines can be instantly downloaded to various devices and transported all of the globe. Pretty sweet. I wanted to examine the impact these digital initiatives have had on the system and its community in recent years, if any.

The first graph works to illustrate the county tax dollars allocated to library services in the last five years. I know the budget is largely governed by the number of citizens using the services, but I wondered whether having to pay for new technologies--such as makerspaces--would have drawn a larger portion of funds to the industry. Unfortunately, I couldn't support a trend with the information I had available to me. The graph really shows no form of a pattern in county budget allocation--it may also depend on how much the county officials value the system. Who knows. 

The second graph charts the amount of fines and forfeit dollars collected annually by the system in the last five years. I was curious to know whether having one's books instantly return when the digital download was overdue would cut back on overdue and replacement costs. The graph doesn't support this notion, unfortunately.

Lastly, I drew data from the HCPLC website regarding patron activities. I felt as though the influx of individuals having personal devices would mean more digital downloads and fewer physical check outs. This conclusion proved true from the information. Additionally, the library has had more wi-fi connections and fewer physical computer logons in the last year. I understand this is only a small bit of data, however, and one can't draw any definite conclusions from the information.

In all, the graphs were not totally proportionate to my expectations. Just the same, it was interesting to see patterns in the industry charted and easily accessible.

Trends in HCPLC Budget and Use in the Post-Digitization Era Graphs