The library system's trustees repeatedly claim they don't play politics in allocating resources throughout the library system, and the Library Director repeatedly claims she's introduced more businesslike practices into library operations.

Facts about the amount of business transacted by various branches-vs. the relative level of resources they are provided with-tell a different story. Often these facts remain disguised because library service and resource data are displayed in alphabetical order by the names of the various library facilities or because raw figures are shown instead of percentages.

The information in the rankings listed below are derived from monthly statistical reports to the Board or from information provided to the library trustees as part of the strategic plan they are developing. Click on each of the links below to see the various rankings.

     AFPL Libraries Ranked by Cost per Circulation

     AFPL Libraries Ranked by Size of Service Population

     AFPL Libraries Ranked by Number of Visits per Hour

     AFPL Libraries Ranked by Size of Collection

     AFPL Libraries Ranked by Turnover Rate

     AFPL Libraries Ranked by Age

To see a chart, with commentary, that displays all these rankings at once, and uses them to computer a composite ranking that reflects "overall busyness", click here.