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Digest of Education Statistics
2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 421. Public libraries, books and serial volumes, library visits, circulation, and reference transactions, by state: Fiscal year 2004
State Number of public libraries Number of books and serial volumes (in thousands) Number of books and serial volumes per capita Library visits per capita1  Circulation per capita Public library reference transactions per capita2 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
United States 9,207 3 804,943 2.8 4.7 7.1 1.1
Alabama 208   9,125 2.0 3.2 4.1 0.8
Alaska 88   2,236 3.4 5.2 6.3 0.5
Arizona 91   9,512 1.8 4.0 7.5 0.9
Arkansas 48   5,706 2.1 3.1 4.4 0.7
California 179   77,776 2.2 4.2 5.5 1.0
             
Colorado 115   11,546 2.6 6.7 10.6 1.3
Connecticut 194   14,778 4.2 6.6 9.2 1.3
Delaware 21   1,628 2.1 4.5 6.4 0.6
District of Columbia 1   2,436 4.4 3.5 1.9 2.0
Florida 70   32,599 1.9 4.0 5.4 1.3
             
Georgia 58   15,027 1.8 3.7 4.7 0.9
Hawaii 1   3,177 2.5 4.4 5.0 0.7
Idaho 104   3,785 3.1 6.0 8.2 0.8
Illinois 626   43,172 3.8 5.7 8.3 1.5
Indiana 239   23,906 4.2 6.7 11.9 1.3
             
Iowa 540   12,066 4.1 5.5 9.1 0.6
Kansas 325   10,818 4.7 6.2 10.7 1.2
Kentucky 116   8,254 2.0 3.8 5.7 0.6
Louisiana 66   11,581 2.6 3.1 4.3 1.2
Maine 269   6,294 5.3 5.4 7.3 0.7
             
Maryland 24   14,825 2.7 5.1 9.4 1.3
Massachusetts 370   31,571 4.9 5.8 7.7 0.9
Michigan 384   33,258 3.4 4.5 6.3 0.8
Minnesota 140   16,160 3.2 5.0 9.9 0.9
Mississippi 49   5,728 2.0 2.8 3.2 0.5
             
Missouri 151   18,165 3.6 4.8 8.7 0.9
Montana 79   2,695 3.0 4.1 6.0 0.5
Nebraska 276   6,446 4.6 5.4 8.8 0.8
Nevada 22   4,037 1.7 4.1 6.2 0.7
New Hampshire 231   5,986 4.6 4.8 7.6 0.7
             
New Jersey 306   31,030 3.7 5.1 6.4 0.9
New Mexico 92   4,228 2.6 3.7 5.3 0.9
New York 753   73,771 3.9 5.7 7.1 1.5
North Carolina 75   16,134 1.9 3.9 5.3 1.2
North Dakota 83   2,314 4.2 4.7 7.5 0.7
             
Ohio 250   48,610 4.2 7.2 14.8 1.6
Oklahoma 112   6,830 2.4 4.6 6.4 0.7
Oregon 125   9,005 2.8 6.2 14.5 0.9
Pennsylvania 455   29,263 2.4 3.6 5.2 0.7
Rhode Island 48   4,212 3.9 5.8 6.7 0.9
             
South Carolina 42   8,698 2.1 3.4 4.9 1.2
South Dakota 125   3,199 5.5 6.4 9.0 0.9
Tennessee 184   11,038 1.9 3.2 4.1 0.8
Texas 555   39,749 2.0 3.2 4.8 1.1
Utah 72   6,391 2.7 6.7 12.5 1.6
             
Vermont 189   2,855 5.0 5.4 7.3 0.8
Virginia 90   19,353 2.6 4.5 8.4 1.1
Washington 66   17,274 2.9 5.9 10.8 1.0
West Virginia 97   4,822 2.7 3.4 4.3 0.6
Wisconsin 380   19,462 3.5 6.0 10.2 1.0
Wyoming 23   2,409 4.8 6.0 8.3 1.2
1 The total number of persons entering the library for any purpose during the year.
2 A reference transaction is an information contact that involves the knowledge, use, recommendations, interpretation, or instructions in the use of one or more information sources by a member of the library staff.
3 Excludes branches that are associated with a central library. Consists of 7,441 single-outlet libraries and 1,766 multiple-outlet libraries. Some single-outlet libraries are bookmobiles, and some multiple-outlet libraries consist of or include bookmobiles.
NOTE: Data include imputations for nonresponse. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Public Libraries Survey (PLS), fiscal year 2004, Public Libraries in the United States: Fiscal Year 2004. (This table was prepared September 2006.)

2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest