Use of Public Libraries
- After rising steadily for almost a decade and a half, the number of in-person visits to libraries per 100 people declined 24% from 2009 to 2018 (Indicator V-16a).2 Circulation also declined, but beginning a year later. From 2010 to 2018, per capita circulation dropped 16% even as the materials available in libraries diversified to include substantial numbers of ebooks and downloadable audio holdings.
- Despite the decline in in-person visits and circulation, library programs attracted growing numbers of participants (Indicator V-16b). The trend in children’s programs is particularly important, as such events attract the majority of library program attendees. (A May 2013 survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicates that children and their parents are more likely to use the library than are others in the population.) From 1995 to 2018, attendance at children’s programs increased 62%, from 15.9 to 25.7 per 100 people. Total program attendance at public libraries has also been rising rapidly since 2005, the first year for which national data are available. From 2005 to 2018, total program attendance increased 57%, from 24.7 to 38.9 per 100 people.
- Programs for young adults constitute a relatively small portion of attendance at public library activities, but attendance at such events has grown since national data first became available in 2010. Attendance per 100 people increased from 1.6 to 2.7 over the 2010–2018 time period.
- Rates of public library use varied considerably among the states for each of the five use measures discussed above. The customizable visualizations under Indicator V-16c and Indicator V-16d allow Humanities Indicators users to compare states with respect to annual number of visits, circulation, and attendance at different types of library programs.
Endnotes
- 2
All the ratios mentioned here are based on the total unduplicated population of libraries’ legal service areas, as reported by libraries themselves. A library’s legal service area is the geographical area that by state or local statute a library is mandated to serve. “Unduplicated” refers to the fact that the population figures have been adjusted to compensate for overlapping service areas. To simply sum the populations of all service areas within a state would be to double count those people residing in areas served by more than one library.
Visits to library websites are another way in which people avail themselves of these institutions’ resources. The Institute of Museum and Library Services has recently begun collecting data on web visits. Fiscal year 2020 is likely the first for which data on web visits will be available for all states and the District of Columbia.
* Based on the total unduplicated population of libraries’ legal service areas. Values presented are for the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and calculations were performed on all libraries treated by these jurisdictions as public libraries, not only those meeting all Federal-State Cooperative System criteria for public libraries (see “About the Data” for details). “Circulated Items” includes physical items and electronic material, both checked out and renewed (either in person or electronically).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Public Libraries Survey (1995–2005); and Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey (2006–2018). Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The values depicted in the graph are based on the total unduplicated population of libraries’ legal service areas, as reported by libraries themselves. A library’s legal service area is the geographical area that by state or local statute a library is mandated to serve. “Unduplicated” refers to the fact that the population figures have been adjusted to compensate for overlapping service areas. To simply sum the populations of all service areas would be to double count those people residing in areas served by more than one library.
Under the Federal-State Cooperative System, a public library is an entity established under state enabling laws or regulations to serve a community, district, or region, is supported in whole or in part with public funds, and provides at least the following:
1. An organized collection of printed or other library materials, or a combination thereof;
2. Paid staff;
3. An established schedule in which services of the staff are available to the public; and
4. The facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule.
A library, in this instance, refers to the administrative entity, which could be a single-outlet library or a multibranch library system. In fiscal year 2017, the most recent year for which information was available at the time of publication, 9,045 libraries operating in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia met the criteria above. These entities provided services via 16,557 central and branch libraries, and 672 bookmobiles (M. Pelczar, L. M. Frehill, K. Williams, and E. Nielsen, Supplementary Tables: Public Libraries in the United States Fiscal Year 2017 [Washington, DC: Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2019], 1–2, https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/fy2017_pls_tables.pdf).
* Based on the total unduplicated population of libraries’ legal service areas. Values presented are for the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and calculations were performed on all libraries treated as public libraries by these jurisdictions, not only those meeting all Federal-State Cooperative System criteria for public libraries (see “About the Data” for details).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Public Libraries Survey (1995–2005); and Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey (2006–2018). Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The values depicted in the graph are based on the total unduplicated population of libraries’ legal service areas, as reported by libraries themselves. A library’s legal service area is the geographical area that by state or local statute a library is mandated to serve. “Unduplicated” refers to the fact that the population figures have been adjusted to compensate for overlapping service areas. To simply sum the populations of all service areas would be to double count those people residing in areas served by more than one library.
Under the Federal-State Cooperative System, a public library is an entity established under state enabling laws or regulations to serve a community, district, or region, is supported in whole or in part with public funds, and provides at least the following:
1. An organized collection of printed or other library materials, or a combination thereof;
2. Paid staff;
3. An established schedule in which services of the staff are available to the public; and
4. The facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule.
A library, in this instance, refers to the administrative entity, which could be a single-outlet library or a multibranch library system. In fiscal year 2017, the most recent year for which information was available at the time of publication, 9,045 libraries operating in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia met the criteria above. These entities provided services via 16,557 central and branch libraries, and 672 bookmobiles (M. Pelczar, L. M. Frehill, K. Williams, and E. Nielsen, Supplementary Tables: Public Libraries in the United States Fiscal Year 2017 [Washington, DC: Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2019], 1–2, https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/fy2017_pls_tables.pdf).
V-16c: Public Library Visits, Circulation, and Program Attendance, by State, Fiscal Year 2018 (Choropleth)
* Based on the total unduplicated population of libraries’ legal service areas. Calculations were performed on all libraries treated by these jurisdictions as public libraries, not only those meeting all Federal-State Cooperative System criteria for public libraries (see “About the Data” for details).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey (2018). Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The values depicted in the graph are based on the total unduplicated population of libraries’ legal service areas, as reported by libraries themselves. A library’s legal service area is the geographical area that by state or local statute a library is mandated to serve. “Unduplicated” refers to the fact that the population figures have been adjusted to compensate for overlapping service areas. To simply sum the populations of all service areas would be to double count those people residing in areas served by more than one library.
Under the Federal-State Cooperative System, a public library is an entity established under state enabling laws or regulations to serve a community, district, or region, is supported in whole or in part with public funds, and provides at least the following:
1. An organized collection of printed or other library materials, or a combination thereof;
2. Paid staff;
3. An established schedule in which services of the staff are available to the public; and
4. The facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule.
A library, in this instance, refers to the administrative entity, which could be a single-outlet library or a multibranch library system. In fiscal year 2017, the most recent year for which information was available at the time of publication, 9,045 libraries operating in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia met the criteria above. These entities provided services via 16,557 central and branch libraries, and 672 bookmobiles (M. Pelczar, L. M. Frehill, K. Williams, and E. Nielsen, Supplementary Tables: Public Libraries in the United States Fiscal Year 2017 [Washington, DC: Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2019], 1–2, https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/fy2017_pls_tables.pdf).
Circulated items include physical items and electronic material, both checked out and renewed (either in person or electronically).
V-16d: Public Library Visits, Circulation, and Program Attendance, by State, Fiscal Year 2018 (Compare Up to Six States)
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey (2018). Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The values depicted in the graph are based on the total unduplicated population of libraries’ legal service areas, as reported by libraries themselves. A library’s legal service area is the geographical area that by state or local statute a library is mandated to serve. “Unduplicated” refers to the fact that the population figures have been adjusted to compensate for overlapping service areas. To simply sum the populations of all service areas would be to double count those people residing in areas served by more than one library.
Under the Federal-State Cooperative System, a public library is an entity established under state enabling laws or regulations to serve a community, district, or region, is supported in whole or in part with public funds, and provides at least the following:
1. An organized collection of printed or other library materials, or a combination thereof;
2. Paid staff;
3. An established schedule in which services of the staff are available to the public; and
4. The facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule.
A library, in this instance, refers to the administrative entity, which could be a single-outlet library or a multibranch library system. In fiscal year 2017, the most recent year for which information was available at the time of publication, 9,045 libraries operating in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia met the criteria above. These entities provided services via 16,557 central and branch libraries, and 672 bookmobiles (M. Pelczar, L. M. Frehill, K. Williams, and E. Nielsen, Supplementary Tables: Public Libraries in the United States Fiscal Year 2017 [Washington, DC: Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2019], 1–2, https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/fy2017_pls_tables.pdf).
Circulated items include physical items and electronic material, both checked out and renewed (either in person or electronically).
