Frances Hendrix wrote:
> We really need to get one thing straight. The reason only one library
> was used was that it was thought unlikely many or perhaps any others
> would have opened their books in such a way, and Hampshire, who were
> agreeable, were 'indicative' of the situation the author perceived. I
> am sure a further study would be considered of all 149 public libraries,
> if we could get them to participate?
>
This is a red herring. There is no doubt that Hampshire's figures are
typical - indeed, as a large library service they may well represent 'best
practice'. The point at issue is that the statistics were used to buttress
the author's polemic. But statistics can be misleading. They can show, for
example, the administration costs of the Laser Foundation as 65.7% of total
income.
http://www.charitiesdirect.com/charity2/ch006722.htm
John Briggs
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