Quick FAQs for Sample Libraries (pdf format) is available to print.

An overview on the Role of Sample Libraries is also available to view/print.

What does the PLR office do?

The PLR office makes payments to authors from government funds for the use of their books in public libraries. Payments are made based on the estimated number of times a book is borrowed nationally. Estimates are produced from data collected from a sample of library authroities throughout the UK. Some of the library authorities are changed each year.

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Does our library authority have to participate in the sample?

If designated, your authority must provide the requested data – but we will only designate authorities with a suitable catalogue and library management system (LMS).  If you are changing your LMS supplier around the time that test data is due, or when live data collection is about to start, we may decide to select another authority and postpone your involvement until another year.

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What is the rough timetable of events?

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How long will we be in the PLR sample?

You will usually participate for a period of 4 years.  We may decide to deselect your authority early if you change your LMS during the 4 years – but you will always receive at least 6 month’s notice of designation or deselection.

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Can we reclaim the cost of providing data to PLR?

Yes.  We will consult with your LMS supplier about their annual PLR software maintenance charges.  The LMS supplier will invoice you and you will then reclaim the money from PLR.  At the same time, we will reimburse you for any “operational costs” that you incur (for example you might want to make a modest charge for each set of data you send us to cover staff time).  Some authorities decide not to charge for operational costs as the effort involved is minimal.

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How frequently should we invoice you?

You should invoice us once per year.  We will send you a purchase order each year as a reminder to invoice us.

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How frequently do we have to send data?

Live data collection should start on 1 July.  You should send data for 1 July – 31 July at the beginning of August and then continue monthly for 6 months until the end of December.  From the January, we will ask you to switch to sending data every two months for the remainder of the 4 years that you are in the sample.

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Will we get any regular feedback on our data?

Yes.  When you send in your initial test data, you will receive an email with various analysis reports attached.  You will get a list of your “Top 25 Most Borrowed Books” every time you send us some data.  In addition, you will receive national, regional and local “Top 100 Most Borrowed Books” lists every year.  If we find any anomalies in the data (e.g. invalid ISBNs) we will report these to you so that you can amend them if you wish.

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What else do we have to provide?

You will receive a request for the following information every year to make sure that we are collecting the data we need:

• A list of your computerised branches with their total book issues and audiobook issues figures.
• A list of your item types
• A list of your borrower/patron types

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How can I find out more about PLR?

You are welcome to visit the PLR office in Stockton on Tees and you will automatically receive an invitation to our annual “open day” before your live data collection starts. PLR staff are always available to answer your questions by telephone or email.

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What do sample libraries think about PLR?

During the financial year 2007-08, we sent a survey to 10 of our sample library authorities. The overall satisfaction level for this year was 98.5%. Further details are available in the full survey results (available as a pdf document).

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