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The lending statistics for NZ public libraries can be found in the “Public library statistics for 2014/15” (Footnote 1) published by Public Libraries of New Zealand, the body that represents public libraries in NZ. The figures are for year ending June 2015.

To locate the number of loans, go to the “Services & Uses” tab and look at the column under “6.2.3.1 a - Loans to users”.

While printed books continue to be popular, it is important to consider measuring the number of ebooks that are lent, given the rise of this format and the growing trend of ebooks lent (Footnote 2). Past statistics count “E-books downloaded annually” (with or without the hyphen). Unfortunately, the 2014/15 statistics do not count e-book downloads (e-book collection size and expenditure are counted).

I looked at the e-book downloads for Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington and cross-referenced the “6.2.12.2 - Number of accesses” statistic with the “Total ebooks downloaded annually?” on the “2013-14 Stats” tab. It is possible that “6.2.12.2 - Number of accesses” statistic now includes e-book downloads, however there is nothing in the “Notes” tab to verify this. If this is something you are interested in pursuing you could contact Glen Walker (Footnote 3) directly (who compiled the statistics) or Public Libraries of New Zealand.

Other information:

The spreadsheet also lists a range of other statistical measures that may be of interest to you.

The “Notes” tab lists the libraries that were not reported on. These are excluded from the spreadsheet. If you wish to fill any gaps, contact the public library directly and given them a time by when you require this information.

If you require more up-to-date figures, choose a select number of public libraries and contact them directly for their lending statistics for year ending 30 June 2016 (or your chosen date). Your selection will be based on which libraries are of most relevance to you, or libraries within a geographic region or those libraries that have similarly sized communities. Sourcing statistics from all libraries would take some time and such a task may be best left to Libraries of New Zealand who can ensure the data is standardised.

If you think you may need these statistical spreadsheets on an annual basis for future years, I would recommend contacting Public Libraries of New Zealand organisation to encourage them to continue with the series.

Footnotes

1. http://www.publiclibraries.org.nz/Librar...

2. http://www.publiclibraries.org.nz/AboutU...

3. https://www.linkedin.com/in/glen-walker-...