Public library outreach as a function of staffing and metropolitan location.

Abstract

Library literature suggests that staffing and metropolitan status may affect a public library’s provision of outreach efforts. Data from a 1999 survey of Arizona public library service outlets do not support the role of metropolitan status in outreach provision, but does reaffirm the role of staffing. In this data set, Arizona public library service outlets had ongoing outreach efforts, with schools and preschools being the most popular venue for providing those services. Analyzing outlets’ provision of outreach as a function of staffing revealed that there is a positive relationship between the number of librarians on staff and the odds that a library would conduct outreach. While metropolitan libraries were also associated with an increase in the odds of outreach and school visits, this was assumed to be a spurious correlation due to the lack of significance in models accounting for staff and metropolitan status.