Weathervane: turn your filter's records into a monthly report for trustees
See what patrons, students and staff use the connection for, which services they rely on and at what hours, what the filter stopped and how the CIPA rules were met. It arrives as a polished PDF under your own logo, made from data your filter collects anyway, with no software to install.
The numbers your board keeps asking for are already in your filter
Libraries and schools that receive E-Rate discounts must filter their internet, and the filter is paid for out of a tight budget. So far it has delivered protection plus a log that nobody opens. Weathervane reads that log and produces the summary that directors, trustees and funders request.
Trustees ask simple questions that are hard to answer. Did residents use our computers to apply for jobs, file forms or finish schoolwork? Which e-book and database subscriptions earn their renewal? Is the filter doing its job, and could we prove it tomorrow if a parent or a journalist asked? Without a report, directors either estimate or lose an afternoon pulling numbers out of several systems.
Every website lookup on your network already passes through the filter. That means it knows which services people depend on, at what hours and at which location. Weathervane sorts that activity into purposes, puts names to the services, sets automatic device traffic to one side and presents it all in a report that carries your logo on its first page.
- The value of your connection, in everyday language: education, job seeking, government, health, library e-resources and other purposes, each compared with the previous month.
- Evidence of protection: blocked adult content, stopped scam websites, attempts to use VPNs, and every unblock made by staff or patrons.
- CIPA documentation: one page pairing each legal requirement with your policy and the proof from that month.
- Nothing to prepare: the PDF lands in your inbox on the first of every month, and the dashboard covers any dates you choose.
Twelve pages, each with one job
The PDF reads like a short brief from a consultant. Open any page to view it at full size, then move through the whole report with the arrows or your arrow keys. The sample covers two weeks at a library with three networks.
Front pageYour name and logo, the reporting period, the author, and four headline numbers: lookups made by people, sites and services in use, blocked lookups and filter uptime.
Introduction and contentsA welcome note you write for trustees, numbered contents, and a few lines on how to read the figures.
SummarySix headline numbers with their trend, five findings in plain sentences and a chart of daily activity.
Purposes of useAll activity sorted into sixteen purposes, showing each one's share, how it moved and the leading services inside it.
Top servicesThe twenty services people used most, named one by one (think Libby, YouTube or Google Classroom), plus services that appeared or dropped away this period.
Busy timesDays against hours in a heat map, with the peak day, peak hour and busiest weekday: handy for rotas, opening hours and planned maintenance.
LocationsActivity, blocks and unblocks for every branch or network, so a system can compare its sites on one page.
AI on your networkEach AI tool that was reached, compared with our register of 11,000-plus AI tools, showing how often it was used, if the filter blocked it, and if it is a newcomer.
Protection summaryBlocked adult content, stopped scam and malware sites, VPN and proxy attempts and the sites blocked most often, with adult site names hidden.
CIPA recordThe legal requirements ticked off against your evidence, the policy that was in force and the most recent unblocks by staff and patrons.
Automatic trafficSoftware updates, ad networks, security software and cameras, reported on a page of their own so they never count as people.
Next stepsPractical actions, for example turning on scam protection or reviewing newly seen AI tools, plus notes to keep on file.
Behind the PDF: a live dashboard
The report is the short version. The Weathervane page in your dashboard holds all the detail. Set the range to a week, 30 days, a calendar month, a quarter or custom dates, narrow it to a single network or keep the whole account, and fold automatic traffic in whenever you need it. Click any screenshot for a larger view.
OverviewEight headline numbers with trends, the main findings and suggested actions, a daily chart, and buttons for the PDF, a preview, Excel and CSV.
PurposesA bar chart of the sixteen purposes beside a table of shares and trends, plus every library service and e-resource by name.
ServicesEvery service and website seen, with search and purpose filters, showing lookups, share, change, active days and blocks.
TimePeak day, peak hour and busiest weekday, the day-by-hour heat map and the shape of an average day.
Protection and CIPAThis period's compliance checks, each unblock with its time, the categories that were stopped and the most frequently blocked sites.
Reports and sharingGet the PDF, or every table in one Excel file; choose who receives the monthly email; set your branding; and issue private links.
Useful to everyone around the table
The same report answers a different question for each reader.
Proof of public value at budget time: how much activity went to jobs, government, health and learning, and which way it moved. A page that drops straight into the board packet.
Peak hours for each location, the services patrons use there and how unblocks are handled, for planning staff, events and computer bookings.
Human activity kept apart from machine chatter, a view of the security and management software running on site, plus every attempt to slip past the filter with encrypted DNS or a VPN.
The learning platforms students really open, the AI tools that turn up, and each school's safety record, in a form the school board and families can follow.
A dated CIPA record every month showing the protection measure, the policy and the unblock log, filed alongside your E-Rate paperwork.
Hard numbers for applications and progress reports on digital inclusion, workforce, health and learning.
Eight ways to put it to work
Branded as your own report
In Settings, Report branding, upload your logo, choose a colour, name whoever prepares the report, and add a contact line and a short note for trustees. Your name then appears on the front page, in each page header and in the footer. Remove our name if you want a fully white-label document that looks as if your own office produced it.
Visits to your own website and catalog count as a library service, so they show up in the right place. Your branding carries over to the activity, policy and monthly PDFs as well.
Delivered monthly, shared privately
On the first of each month, last month's report is emailed to the people you pick, for example the director, the clerk to the board or your IT partner. The activity report PDF and CSV files are attached, so the records are complete without anyone signing in.
Before a meeting or a funder's visit, generate a share link for any report. Recipients open it in their browser and can save the PDF, without creating an account. Links last between 30 days and a year, and you can cancel one at any moment.
Built to protect privacy
The filter knows which websites a device looks up, not who is holding the device. Reports therefore show totals by service, purpose, hour and network, and never identify anyone. Names of adult sites are masked throughout. Nothing leaves your dashboard unless you send a report yourself.
Clear pricing, changes included
Analytics products priced per device can cost as much as a filter. Weathervane is priced below the filter itself, counts every device on your network including phones on the Wi-Fi, and we adjust the report for you at no extra charge.
Single library or school
One site, with the monthly PDF for trustees, your branding, Excel exports and private links.
Get WeathervaneWhole library system or district
A single price for all your branches or schools, compared side by side, with a report for every network.
Pick the system planFilter and Weathervane together
For new customers: the managed CIPA filter plus Weathervane for one site. AI Controls and App Control can be added at checkout.
Sign up with WeathervaneGet Weathervane for your account
For libraries and schools already on our managed filter. Not a customer yet? Sign up for the filter with Weathervane included, or begin with the filter and add the reports later.
- Stop monthly billing whenever you like
- Every network and branch in your account is included
- Tailoring the report costs nothing extra
- Systems and districts pay $149/month or $1,490/year for every site
- No personal data: the filter never learns who used a device
Pay securely by PayPal or card. We activate Weathervane on your account and email you a confirmation.
Numbers that hold up
A report for trustees has to be accurate. In Weathervane the parts always add up: purpose totals, service totals, the day-by-day chart, the hourly view and the per-location figures all reach one identical total of human activity, and once blocked lookups and automatic traffic are added, the sum matches the log the filter itself keeps.
Days run on your local time zone, so a month is your month. A change is shown only when the earlier period holds enough data to compare, so a filter switched on halfway through a month cannot produce a misleading spike. Automatic traffic is reported separately, so a busy camera or an update cycle is never mistaken for a busy branch.
Where a number needs context, the report explains it in one plain sentence; the underlying rows for every service on every date are in the dashboard.
Up and running in a minute
- Order Weathervane with the form on this page. We switch your account over and email you once it is live.
- Brand it in Settings, Report branding, with your logo, your colour and a note for trustees.
- Pick the recipients under Settings, Monthly report email; your first report is sent on the 1st of the coming month.
- Open it whenever you need it in the dashboard, for any dates, and send a private link on request.
History counts from the day your filter went live, so if it has been running for a while, your very first report already has data in it.
Common questions
Is the managed filter required?
Yes. Weathervane works from the lookups your filter already processes. No software goes on any computer, and staff and patrons notice no change. New customers can order the filter and Weathervane together.
Which email address do we use?
Use the address tied to your filter account so we can match the order to your library. Where the account has several managers, any one of their emails works.
Can it show what an individual did?
No. The filter only sees which addresses a device asks for, never the person behind it. Everything is aggregated: per service, per purpose, per hour and per network.
What counts as a lookup, and why not page views?
Every time a device needs a website's address, it sends a lookup, and loading one page often sends several. Lookups therefore track activity, not the number of visitors. Because they are counted identically every month, they reveal trends and peak times you can rely on.
Why is some activity reported separately?
Devices contact the internet by themselves for updates, advertising, security software and cameras. Weathervane gives that traffic its own section so the figures for people stay accurate, and one click adds it back in.
Can we pick the dates?
Yes. Pick a preset (the past week, the past 30 or 90 days, the current or previous month) or set your own start and end dates, for a single network or the whole account. The emailed report always describes the month that has just ended.
Will it work across a library system?
Yes. Every branch and network appears next to the others, and you can produce a report for a single location or for all of them together. On the system plan, all sites are covered by one fee.
Can the report be adapted to us?
Yes, and it costs nothing extra. Describe what your trustees want to see, such as another angle, wording of your own or a statistic we have not included yet, and we build it in.
Does it help with E-Rate and CIPA?
Each month you get a dated record showing the filter in place, the rules you applied and how adults had sites unblocked. Weathervane helps you document compliance; it does not replace legal advice and cannot promise E-Rate eligibility.
Will it slow our connection?
No. Weathervane only reads records afterwards; the way websites are looked up and loaded does not change at all.
Can we check the report before trustees see it?
Yes. Look at it in the dashboard first, change the dates or the branding if needed, and decide afterwards whether to download it or share it. Nobody receives the monthly email unless you have added their address.
What if we cancel?
Weathervane stops at the end of the period you paid for, and the filter carries on as before. Shared links stop working, while the filter's activity reports and CSV files remain in your dashboard.
How can we judge it before buying?
Read the sample report linked at the top of this page. It has the same twelve pages yours will have, built on numbers from a fictional library. And monthly billing can be stopped at any time.