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Digest of Education Statistics
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Table 432. Selected statistics on public school libraries/media centers, by level and enrollment size of school: 2007-08
Selected statistic All public school libraries/
media centers
Elementary school enrollment size Secondary school enrollment size
Total Less than 150 150 to 499 500 to 749 750 or more Total Less than 500 500 to 749 750 to 1,499 1,500 or more
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Number of schools with libraries/media
   centers
81,900 (634) 59,700 (492) 3,300 (399) 31,100 (1054) 16,400 (812) 8,900 (534) 17,800 (414) 6,300 (353) 3,000 (246) 5,100 (273) 3,300 (198)
                                             
Average number of staff per library/media
   center
1.72 (0.017) 1.65 (0.019) 1.28 (0.099) 1.58 (0.027) 1.73 (0.045) 1.89 (0.053) 2.04 (0.039) 1.59 (0.071) 1.78 (0.068) 2.18 (0.054) 2.94 (0.081)
Certified library/media specialists 0.78 (0.011) 0.73 (0.013) 0.60 (0.069) 0.70 (0.019) 0.76 (0.024) 0.86 (0.030) 0.98 (0.019) 0.73 (0.035) 0.87 (0.035) 1.09 (0.026) 1.38 (0.046)
Full-time 0.66 (0.010) 0.61 (0.012) 0.25 (0.072) 0.53 (0.018) 0.71 (0.022) 0.81 (0.029) 0.88 (0.018) 0.57 (0.033) 0.80 (0.040) 1.02 (0.029) 1.31 (0.049)
Part-time 0.13 (0.007) 0.13 (0.010) 0.36 (0.070) 0.17 (0.014) 0.06 (0.016) 0.05 (0.013) 0.10 (0.009) 0.16 (0.019) 0.07 (0.020) 0.07 (0.017) 0.07 (0.022)
Other professional staff 0.22 (0.010) 0.22 (0.013) 0.20 (0.059) 0.23 (0.016) 0.20 (0.028) 0.21 (0.030) 0.21 (0.021) 0.27 (0.044) 0.20 (0.051) 0.16 (0.026) 0.15 (0.033)
Full-time 0.13 (0.008) 0.13 (0.010) 0.10 (0.051) 0.13 (0.014) 0.14 (0.021) 0.13 (0.021) 0.14 (0.017) 0.17 (0.039) 0.11 (0.027) 0.13 (0.023) 0.12 (0.025)
Part-time 0.08 (0.007) 0.08 (0.009) 0.10 (0.034) 0.09 (0.012) 0.06 (0.016) 0.09 (0.023) 0.07 (0.013) 0.10 (0.027) 0.09 (0.043) 0.04 (0.013) 0.03 (0.015)
Other paid employees 0.72 (0.013) 0.70 (0.016) 0.48 (0.068) 0.65 (0.023) 0.78 (0.039) 0.82 (0.044) 0.86 (0.027) 0.59 (0.041) 0.71 (0.050) 0.93 (0.045) 1.40 (0.068)
Full-time 0.43 (0.013) 0.39 (0.016) 0.13 (0.046) 0.33 (0.019) 0.46 (0.035) 0.59 (0.044) 0.60 (0.022) 0.34 (0.031) 0.51 (0.049) 0.66 (0.039) 1.07 (0.067)
Part-time 0.29 (0.011) 0.31 (0.014) 0.34 (0.064) 0.32 (0.023) 0.31 (0.032) 0.23 (0.036) 0.26 (0.018) 0.25 (0.032) 0.20 (0.029) 0.28 (0.035) 0.34 (0.053)
                                             
Percent of libraries/media centers with
   certain media equipment
                                           
Automated catalog 87.2 (0.71) 87.5 (0.94) 57.1 (6.87) 86.6 (1.56) 91.6 (1.55) 94.4 (1.62) 90.6 (1.08) 79.6 (2.59) 94.0 (2.14) 97.2 (0.86) 98.4 (1.05)
Automated circulation system 89.5 (0.68) 89.9 (0.87) 57.1 (6.78) 89.4 (1.35) 94.8 (1.19) 95.0 (1.84) 92.6 (0.98) 83.0 (2.49) 96.0 (1.72) 98.4 (0.44) 98.7 (0.81)
Media retrieval system1 34.9 (1.05) 35.9 (1.33) 10.6 (4.72) 29.3 (1.62) 43.9 (2.68) 53.7 (3.51) 35.1 (1.66) 32.8 (3.39) 34.1 (3.00) 37.9 (2.85) 36.4 (3.28)
Connection to Internet 96.7 (0.40) 96.5 (0.51) 81.0 (5.95) 96.9 (0.55) 98.0 (0.53) 98.5 (0.70) 98.6 (0.51) 96.0 (1.42) 99.9 (0.05) 100.0 (†) 100.0 (†)
Digital video disc (DVD) player/video
     cassette recorder(VCR)
87.2 (0.77) 86.7 (1.02) 80.0 (5.53) 86.3 (1.27) 87.4 (1.71) 89.1 (2.21) 89.6 (1.00) 87.3 (2.11) 89.9 (2.67) 92.3 (1.80) 89.3 (2.80)
Disability assistance technologies,
     such as TDD
23.9 (1.05) 23.0 (1.33) 14.7 (3.85) 20.2 (1.68) 24.6 (2.08) 33.1 (3.20) 26.4 (1.34) 18.4 (1.91) 26.7 (3.14) 28.4 (2.06) 38.0 (3.38)
                                             
Percent of libraries/media centers with
   certain services
                                           
Students permitted to check out
     laptops
27.5 (1.02) 26.9 (1.27) 22.5 (6.15) 25.7 (1.72) 27.0 (2.23) 32.4 (3.13) 29.8 (1.34) 29.2 (2.84) 29.9 (3.18) 31.0 (2.40) 29.0 (2.76)
Staff permitted to check out laptops 45.9 (1.07) 45.2 (1.35) 30.7 (6.44) 42.4 (1.97) 48.4 (2.83) 54.6 (4.01) 50.1 (1.50) 46.3 (3.06) 49.7 (3.38) 54.5 (2.50) 51.1 (3.39)
                                             
Number of library computer workstations
   per 100 students
2.6 (0.05) 2.5 (0.07) 8.8 (1.24) 3.2 (0.13) 2.1 (0.10) 1.7 (0.11) 2.9 (0.06) 5.9 (0.28) 3.8 (0.22) 2.9 (0.10) 1.9 (0.08)
                                             
Average holdings per 100 students at
   the end of the school year2
                                           
Books (number of volumes) 2,015 (30.5) 2,316 (40.2) 6,384 (531.1) 2,993 (67.3) 2,117 (45.7) 1,559 (85.2) 1,432 (36.6) 3,203 (162.4) 1,854 (101.1) 1,332 (34.1) 975 (40.6)
Audio and video materials 90 (3.8) 93 (5.6) 157 (36.7) 105 (5.9) 89 (6.2) 82 (16.1) 81 (5.2) 132 (14.4) 138 (30.0) 83 (8.5) 52 (4.1)
                                             
Average additions per 100 students
   during the school year2
                                           
Books (number of volumes) 95.3 (2.21) 113.3 (3.26) 247.0 (38.53) 134.9 (5.28) 106.4 (5.76) 89.6 (6.32) 62.1 (2.67) 124.8 (11.48) 81.1 (8.27) 61.3 (4.78) 42.7 (2.66)
Audio and video materials 5.4 (0.49) 5.9 (0.77) 7.6 (2.14) 5.7 (0.44) 4.9 (0.55) 7.1 (2.47) 4.5 (0.41) 6.4 (0.59) 6.1 (1.44) 4.8 (0.65) 3.4 (0.60)
                                             
Total expenditures for library/media
   materials per pupil2,3
$16.11 (0.461) $16.18 (0.591) $43.28 (11.551) $18.49 (0.700) $14.63 (0.799) $14.11 (1.496) $15.90 (0.647) $27.86 (3.234) $18.51 (1.931) $16.68 (1.171) $11.75 (0.773)
Books 11.40 (0.291) 11.99 (0.389) 21.99 (4.023) 13.80 (0.539) 11.25 (0.679) 10.23 (0.836) 10.26 (0.504) 17.30 (1.454) 13.47 (1.905) 10.87 (1.103) 7.26 (0.386)
Audio and video materials 1.08 (0.055) 1.06 (0.088) 1.90 (0.967) 1.24 (0.154) 0.88 (0.082) 1.01 (0.180) 1.11 (0.054) 1.57 (0.157) 1.20 (0.151) 1.19 (0.102) 0.91 (0.085)
†Not applicable.
1 Centralized video distribution equipment with a scheduling and control server that telecasts video to classrooms.
2 Average holdings, acquisitions, and expenditures are from the prior school year, while enrollment counts are from the current school year.
3 Includes other expenditures not separately shown.
NOTE: Total includes combined elementary/secondary schools not separately shown. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Library Media Center Questionnaire," 2007-08. (This table was prepared November 2009.)

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