Describes an approach to benchmarking for UK schools library services based on UK national data collected annually by the Library and Information Statistics Unit (LISU), Loughborough University. Outlines the wide range of provision, suggests a method by which suitable comparator services might be identified for both statistical and process benchmarking exercises and lists the four criteria emerging from the study as providing the most useful basis for benchmarking: funding and management arrangements; size of authority; range of services offered; and authority type and structure. Includes a discussion of issues relating to the setting of objective standards and concludes with suggestions for the contents of league tables.
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