Creating a Custom Peer Group

By default, all libraries are assigned to a “primary peer group.” For more information about those peer groups, refer to the Peer Groups resource. Subscribers can create custom peer groups as described in this tutorial.

Use Cases 

Why you might want to create a custom peer group: 

• If your library is part of a regional consortium that shares digital resources, you could create a custom peer group for the consortium. It would allow you to easily see how your library’s collections and technology-related data compares to the other libraries in the group. 
• If your library is engaging in strategic planning or making the case for additional funding for programs or services, you could create custom peer groups based on specific community demographics and on similar (or aspirational) budget, programming, and staff sizes.
• If you are a state library agency, you could create a custom peer group for all libraries in the state. Metrics for the state could then be easily compared to national metrics.

Within Benchmark, you can filter by several key characteristics to select libraries for a custom peer group. If you need to narrow the parameters further, you may want to generate a list of peers utilizing IMLS's Library Search & Compare tool. This tool allows users to manually narrow U.S. public libraries (administrative entities) down to a group of peers based on several characteristics, including locale, revenue, service area population, and staff FTE. Once you have a peer group suitable for your use case, utilize this tutorial to build that custom peer group and take advantage of Benchmark's comparisons, visualizations, and trend data to support your library improvements.

How to Create a Custom Peer Group

Start by clicking on “Peer Groups” in the menu at the top of the page. There you will see a list of peer groups your library has previously created, if any. Use the search box in the top right to filter your list by group name.

From the Peer Groups page, click the blue “Create” button to navigate to the Create Peer Group interface.

1. Start by entering a unique peer group name.
    
2. If you already have a list of libraries for your custom peer group:
   • Use the Search box above “Available Institutions” to narrow the list of available libraries by name or FSCSkey.
   • Click the library name, then click Add to select that institution. Repeat the process until your selected list is complete.
   • Click the blue Create button at the bottom.
      
3. You can also use the filters in the “Institution Selection” section to narrow down the list of libraries you would like to include in your group.
   • Available filters include legal basis, locale, state, region, and service area population. In this case (see Figure 1 below), I have selected all town/rural libraries in the Great Lakes that serve a population of less than 10,000 and are governed by a municipal body.
   • Please note that because the Benchmark system contains historic data, the list of available libraries may include some that have closed.
   • Use additional filters or search to further narrow the list. Libraries can be moved to the Selected Institutions list on the right using the Add All or Add buttons between the lists. Use the Remove or Remove All buttons to move them back to the list on the left.
   • Once satisfied with your selected list of libraries, click the blue Create button at the bottom.

Figure 1: Creating a Peer Group using filters.

How to Manage Peer Groups

If you find that you need to edit a custom peer group to add or remove libraries, click on Peer Groups in the top menu and find the peer group you need to change. Then click the Edit button attached to the list to navigate to the Edit Peer Group interface.

Use the filters or search to narrow the list of available institutions on the left to Add to your list on the right. To remove libraries from your group, you can search the selected list on the right and Remove them. Or review the list at the bottom of the page and click the X next to a library to remove it (see Figure 2). Changes made within the Edit Peer Group interface are saved immediately.

Figure 2: Editing a Peer Group to remove a library.

Using Custom Peer Groups

In the Data Dashboards, the Peer Group filter should show an option to select the custom group you have created in addition to your library’s primary peer group. 

At the bottom of the Summary tab in the dashboard you will find a table that lists the members of whichever peer group you have selected in the filter.

 

Updated: 7/28/2026