Page 121 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 44

120 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.10, 2018

Table 4. The indicator system for performance evaluation of public libraries.
Weight of
Grade-I Weight of Grade-
Item Grade-I Grade-II indicator Indicator calculation method
indicator II indicator (%)
indicator (%)
Total expenditure per library
Financial 40.48 (in ten thousand RMB yuan per 100.00 Total expenditure / number of
input institutions
library)
Number of reading seats per Number of reading seats / total
Input capita 33.07 population by the end of that
Basic (per ten thousand persons) very year
conditions 59.52 Total collection volume / total
Collection volume per capita 66.93 population by the end of that
(copies per person)
very year
Total circulation person times
Public Number of visits to public
service 61.56 libraries per hundred persons 100.00 / total population by the end of
that very year
Number of events organized
Output Number of events organized per 37.37 (lectures, exhibitions, training
library sessions) / number of institu-
Social
education 38.44 tions
Number of participants in each 62.63 Number of participants / num-
event per library ber of institutions
Note：The weight of the indicator system is calculated on the basis of weighed scoring of the indicator system for
performance evaluation of public libraries carried out by library professionals, experts and scholars and organized by the
National Institute of Cultural Development of Wuhan University in 2015.
19.55%. In 2001, fiscal investment per library registered 187,900 RMB yuan; the figure soared
to 1.8659 million RMB yuan in 2015, with the average annual growth rate of 17.82%. But fiscal
investment disparity between the central, western and northeast areas on the one hand and the
eastern area on the other hand continued to grow. In 2001, fiscal investments per library in the
eastern, central, western and northeast areas were 292,900 RMB yuan, 136,400 RMB yuan,
137,100 RMB yuan and 220,700 RMB yuan respectively. The figures reached 3.7078 million
RMB yuan, 1.0697 million RMB yuan, 1.1499 million RMB yuan and 1.414 million RMB yuan
respectively in 2015. Over the period of 15 years, annual growth rates of fiscal investment per
library in the above four areas were 19.88%, 15.85%, 16.4% and 14.19% respectively.
Second, there were ups and downs in terms of output of county level libraries, with a tendency
of unsteady development generally. There are both input and output for any institution. But for
public libraries, it is difficult to calculate output due to hardly defined boundaries of social benefit
and post-dominant features of product impact. It is therefore necessary to carry out analysis in line
with basic objectives for establishing public libraries. By sorting out the Public Libraries Law and
local regulations and rules on library management, the authors consider that public libraries have
five major functions as follows: preserving cultural (intelligent) heritage of mankind, carrying out
social education, transmitting scientific information, developing intelligent resources and providing
cultural and leisure services. From the practical perspective, the five major functions are realized