If you ask any member of the library staff or our stakeholders, all of the Dallas Public Library (DPL) locations are busy. The challenge was to determine how busy each location was in comparison to other locations to determine staffing levels and other resources were properly allocated. While DPL had used metrics such as check-outs and check-ins for making these decisions historically, that does not fully capture all the transactions that impact how busy staff is or how their time is being utilized. A multifaceted transaction-based approach was needed to fully capture all the activities that engage staff on a daily basis.

In developing the Branch Busyness Score, it was critical that all facets must be data based so that it created a level playing field for all locations with buy-in from staff and stakeholders. First steps included identifying all transactions that staff handle: such as check-outs, check-ins, filling holds, holds placed by staff, counting in-house materials use, and handling money. Once the transactions had been identified, sources for the data were identified. Most of the facets included in the Branch Busyness Score can be obtained from the library’s ILS. Staff was already recording measures such as gate count, reference questions, and information questions but simply recording these numbers did not illustrate how many transactions were truly happening hourly or daily. Each data point was analyzed to determine if it should be divided by the number of hours open or the number of days open. Transactions such as check-out and check-ins were averaged by number of hours open while transactions such as in-house count and holds shipped are averaged by days open since they are activities that are handled throughout the day and not in one block of time. Once the averages were determined they are ranked and descending points were assigned from the highest to the lowest average. Each data point is scored and the scores are totaled for the busyness score. The result is a score that shows relatively how busy each branch is comparison to each other. Scores within a few points of each other indicate that those branches are equally busy, but if the difference is 10 or more points it indicates that one location is significantly busier than the others.

When the Branch Busyness Score was first developed, it was reviewed by several staff members to make sure it was accurately capturing what was really happening in each location and that the results were consistent with observations by library management. The Branch Busyness Score is now the main tool that is used for determining staffing levels in branch locations. Other factors such as staff-intensive programs are also considered, but are not included in score. Being able to share this data with staff has proved useful as it has helped them understand how many transactions they are handling and that library administration is viewing busyness consistently throughout the system. One factor that has led to the success and acceptance of branch busyness score is that data is from the ILS and gate counters and not staff recorded. While staff would like to have transactions such as reference and information questions included, additional training to ensure consistency of data collection will be necessary for accuracy first. Overall, the branch busyness score has proven to be a successful tool used primarily for decision-making but it has also become a transparent way for staff to see exactly the number of transactions taking place at each location during their work day.