Welcome to Week 3 of the Public Library Survey (PLS) -- Holdings, Physical Circulation, and Electronic Content Usage, OH MY!
(Earworm of the Day: "We're Off to See the Wizard")
Hello, everyone. I'm sorry that I've been indisposed for the last couple of weeks and unable to answer your questions. It was so heartwarming to open my email this morning and discover that you all have been steadily working on your surveys and submitting them in my absence. Thank you so much!
I’ll get back to those of you who sent questions ASAP.
This week we’ll be working on sections 4 through 6 of the PLS - Holdings, Physical Circulation, and Electronic Content Usage.
Section 4.0 - Holdings
4.1 - Physical Holdings
“Holdings counts” represent the number of items in your collection as of the last day of the reporting period you have chosen for your library, which is either the calendar year or the fiscal year. (Reminder from last year: the IMLS no longer wants the counts of serials holdings and instructs libraries to omit the numbers of print periodicals from all categories of Physical Holdings on the survey.)
-Print Materials – The total number of print books in your collection – both hardcover and paperback. If the number of volumes is not available, report the number of titles in your collection along with a note explaining that this is a title count.
-Audio – Physical Units – The number of physical items in your collection that are audio recordings, including music CDs, audiobooks on CD, and Playaways, as well as any other audio formats. Any items that have multiple CDs packaged and circulated together are counted as one.
-Video – Physical Units – The number of items in your collection that are video recordings in a physical format. Multiple items that are packaged and circulated together -like a full season of a TV show - should be counted as one.
-Other Circulating Physical Items – The number of other items in your collection that do not fall into the above categories but may be checked out such as garden tools, cooking pans, games, phone chargers, telescopes, etc. Any items that are packaged, and circulated together as a set, should be counted as one.
-Current Print Serial Subscriptions – The number of magazine, journal, and newspaper titles that your library subscribes to in paper. Multiple issues of the same title received under the same subscription for the year in question count as one.
4.2 - Electronic Holdings Access
In this section, IMLS wants a simple YES or NO answer as to whether your library provided access to the e-material types mentioned. The answers for the "via State" questions have been prefilled. You only need to complete the fields asking if you provided access to various e-materials locally (your Local Library) and/or through a Consortium. These questions refer to the electronic resources that you have purchased for your library, directly or through a local consortium, not through the state library. When answering, do not consider any items that are freely available on the web.
Unlike the statewide NHDB statistics, we have no knowledge of your local holdings or the digital content that is available through your consortiums. Please contact your vendor for that information. We can only provide limited guidance on these questions.
-E-Books via Local Library and E-Books via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, consider the eBooks that your library has purchased that have a circulation period and a due date. These would include Advantage titles purchased from Overdrive, Hoopla, and other platforms.
-E-Serials via Local Library and E-Serials via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, consider electronic newspapers, magazines, and similar media included in platforms like Zinio and Flipster that your library purchases directly or through a consortium.
-E-Audio via Local Library and E-Audio via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, “E-Audio” refers to digital files of sound only (e.g., audiobooks, music) that may be accessed online from an electronic device that your library has purchased that have a circulation period and a due date. These would include services such as Hoopla, Advantage titles purchased from Overdrive, and other platforms.
-E-Video via Local Library and E-Video via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, E-videos are digital files of moving visual images with or without sound (e.g., movies, television shows) that may be accessed online from an electronic device.
-Research Databases via Local Library and Research Databases via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium – For these questions, research databases are organized collections of electronic data or records (e.g., facts, abstracts, articles, bibliographic data, texts, photographs) that can be searched to retrieve information.
-Online Learning Platforms via Local Library and Online Learning Platforms via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium – Online learning platforms primarily provide instruction, tools, and resources to enhance education, lifelong learning, and skill building. Platforms may offer homework assistance, language learning, test preparation, professional development, resume assistance, hobby instruction, etc.
Reminder: IMLS just wants a simple YES or NO answer as to whether your library provided access to the e-material types mentioned.
Section 5.0 - Physical Circulation
-Automatic Renewal of Physical Materials (Yes/No) – This should be straightforward. If your ILS offers automatic renewal of physical materials checked out to patrons, answer YES. If your PLS does not have this feature or you do not offer this at your library, answer NO.
-Circulation of Print Materials – The total number of print materials for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals. If you allow your print magazines and newspapers to be checked out, those circulations are counted here, along with books.
-Circulation of Audio Physical Units – The total number of physical audiobooks and music for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals.
-Circulation of Video Physical Units – The total number of video items (movies, television shows) in any physical format for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals.
-Circulation of Other Physical Items – The total number of physical items that do not fall into the above categories for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals. This would include items like video games, puzzles, telescopes, etc.
-Circulation of Children’s Physical Materials – The number of physical children’s items circulated in all formats, including renewals.
-Circulation of Young Adult Materials – The number of Young Adult items circulated in all formats, including renewals. If your library does not have a separate count for these items, select “Unavailable” and click the notepad to leave a note to that effect.
-Interlibrary Loans Provided to Other Libraries (Outgoing) – The total number of items your library sent to other libraries for their patrons to borrow. Do not include the number of items transferred from one branch to another in the same system.
-Interlibrary Loans Received from Other Libraries (Incoming) – The total number of items sent to your library from other libraries for your patrons to borrow. Do not include the number of items transferred from one branch to another in the same system.
Need a reminder of how to find your ILL figures? This blog post covers how to retrieve your interlibrary loan numbers: https://nhais.blogspot.com/2026/02/finding-your-ill-stats.html
Note: Consortium kits are counted as one unit if they are packaged together and sent together. If you own a kit and send it out to another library, that counts as one outgoing ILL. Unlike a traditional ILL, a kit is often forwarded to another library without first being returned to its home library, so the forwarding library does not count that as an ILL. The receiving library counts it as one incoming ILL.
Section 6.0 - Electronic Content Usage
This is where you enter the usage numbers for each type of local Electronic Holdings that you reported above for your library. The fields containing data about statewide databases and New Hampshire Downloadable Books (NHDB) have been pre-filled and are grayed out. You won’t be able to change them. They are the numbers reported to us by the content vendors for each participating library. If you have questions about any of the numbers you see here, please let me know. The totals for each category are also grayed out and will change as you enter your local numbers.
-Local E-Book Circulation – The combined total number of all eBook circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium, not from the State Library. If your library provides access to Hoopla, the number you will add here is the same one that was used for holdings.
-Local Downloadable Audiobook Circulation –– The combined total number of all audiobook circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium, not from the State Library. If your library provides access to Hoopla, the number you will add is the same one used for holdings.
-Local Downloadable Music Circulation – The combined total number of circulations of digital music items provided on platforms like Naxos Music and Hoopla that were purchased directly by the library or through a consortium.
-Local Downloadable Video Circulation – The combined total number of all video circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium These include movies and TV shows that can be streamed from platforms like Hoopla and Kanopy.
-Local Electronic Magazine Circulation – These are online collections, such as periodical databases, whose items can be accessed without any due dates. Typically, these are databases with records that can be downloaded and retained by the user. Do not include any collection that is available freely on the open web.
If you don’t provide eResources in one of these categories beyond those offered through the State Library, then the usage was zero. Please enter the number zero here. Do not use “Unavailable”.
Golly, that was another long one, but we are nearing the halfway point, folks. As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me at 603-271-2060 or jennifer.m.finch@dncr.nh.gov. I’ll be back next week to lead you through the next steps of our survey. (And as before, feel free to continue this journey without me!)
Warmly,
Jen
Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
Office: 603-271-2060
Ref Desk: 603-271-2144
Jennifer.M.Finch@dncr.nh.gov
