Data: IMLS Releases New “Public Libraries in the United States” Survey Report; People Visited Public Libraries More Than a Billion Times in 2015

From the Institute of Museum and Library Services:

The Public Libraries Survey report, released today by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, provides a snapshot of public library use, financial health, staffing, and resources in FY 2015. IMLS also released a set of state profile reports, for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Each year since 1988, the Public Libraries of the United States Survey has provided a national census of America’s public libraries. The data are collected from approximately 9,000 public library systems comprised of over 17,000 individual main libraries, library branches, and bookmobiles in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
The 2015 report includes the following findings:

• Nearly 311 million Americans lived within a public library service area in 2015, an increase from 306 million in 2014.
• In 2015, there were 1.39 billion visits to public libraries, or 4.48 visits per person.
• Public libraries offered 4.7 million programs in 2015, attended by nearly 107 million people, 5 million more attendees than the previous year.
• Public libraries made 1.31 billion collection items available to patrons and provided access to over a quarter million internet computers.
• The number of electronic materials available through public libraries, including audio, video and e-books, continued to grow. E-books, especially, have seen significant growth, increasing from 0.04 e-book per person in 2006 to just over one e-book per person in 2015. (See table below.)

With graphs and tables, the state profile reportsprovide another way to understand the populations served and the services provided by libraries in each state.

Direct to Full Text Report
119 pages; PDF.
Direct to State Profile Reports 
52 pages; PDF.
Read the Complete Report Publication Announcement

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