Mapping Service Areas at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library

The author explains how her research team at Huntsville-Madison County Public Library used transaction data from SirsiDynix to map accurate library service areas and a variety of boundary data to create a geographic portrayal of political subdivisions. The latter indicated variances in funding sources for library income. The author relates the planning, organization and assemblage of data along with the debates and compromises that the library made to create maps that reflected the political and service realities in which the system delivers its services. Along with immediate policy-making implications, the project created a basis for more detailed service-planning efforts.