• Organization and Content of This Report
• Key Variables
• Findings

Currently, the library media center is defined as an organized collection of printed and/or audiovisual and/or computer resources that is administered as a unit, is located in a designated place or places, and makes resources and services available to students, teachers, and administrators.

The body of this report is composed of tables providing an overview of school library media center data from the 1999–2000 SASS. The tables present data on traditional public school and private school library media centers. Traditional public schools are defined as institutions that provide educational services for at least one of grades 1–12 (or comparable ungraded levels), have one or more teachers to give instruction, are located in one or more buildings, receive public funds as primary support, and are operated by an education agency. Traditional public schools include schools in juvenile detention centers, schools located on military bases and operated by the Department of Defense, and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)-funded schools operated by local public school districts. Traditional public schools do not include schools that teach only prekindergarten or kindergarten, public charter schools (1,010 schools in the SASS sample), and BIA-funded schools that are not operated by a local public school district (120 schools in the SASS sample). In this report, the terms traditional public schools and public schools and the terms school library and library media center are used interchangeably.

The tables present data on several main topics of interest concerning school library media centers. These topics are

• library media center characteristics;
• library media center staff characteristics;
• library media center expenditures and collection holdings; and
• library media center policies.

Public school library media center data are presented at the following levels:

• national-level data;
• regional-level data;
• state-level data;
• community-type data;
• school-level data; and
• student enrollment data.

Private school library media center data are presented at the following levels:

• national-level data;
• affiliation-level data;
• NCES typology-level data;
• regional-level data;
• community-type data;
• school-level data; and
• student enrollment data.

The key variables—such as staffing, library expenditures, and collection holdings—were selected for this report because they represent important descriptors of library media centers. Some basic variables about library equipment were excluded from this report because they appeared in the E.D. TAB published in May 2002, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1999–2000: Overview of the Data for Public, Private, Public Charter, and Bureau of Indian Affairs Elementary and Secondary Schools (NCES 2002–313).

This report is intended to give the reader an overview of the status of public and private school libraries for school year 1999–2000. The data are presented in the following four categories:

• library media center characteristics—the availability of library media centers and the extent to which students have access to a library in their school;
• library media center staff characteristics—the educational level of public and private school librarians and the number of volunteers who assist in the library;
• library media center expenditures and collection holdings—the financial and information resources of the library; and
• library media center policies—issues related to the frequency of regularly scheduled class visits, independent use of the library, and borrowing privileges.

Selected findings are described below.

• In 1999–2000, there were about 77,000 public school library media centers, representing 92 percent of all traditional public schools.
• There were approximately 17,000 private school library media centers, representing 63 percent of all private schools.
• Of the 45 million students enrolled in public elementary or secondary schools in the United States, approximately 44 million (97 percent) attended schools with a library media center.
• Four million private school students, or 82 percent, were enrolled in a school with a library media center.
• Among schools with a library media center, some three-quarters of public schools had a paid, state-certified library media specialist, compared with one-fifth of private schools.

• Among public schools with a library media center, 52 percent of high schools had a school librarian with a Master of Library Science (MLS) or related degree in 1999–2000, compared with 39 percent of elementary schools and 32 percent of combined schools.
• Among private schools with a library media center, 43 percent of high schools, 9 percent of elementary schools, and 26 percent of combined schools employed a librarian with an MLS or related degree.
• A larger proportion of library media centers in private schools than in public schools relied on adult volunteers. Among private schools, 58 percent reported having at least one adult volunteer in the library media center, compared with 38 percent of public schools.

• Survey questions about expenditures and collection holdings refer to the previous school year. For the 1993–94 SASS, respondents reported data from 1992–93 and 1999–2000 SASS respondents reported expenditures and collection data from 1998–99.
• The average library expenditures of public schools increased between the 1993–94 and the 1999–2000 SASS. When adjusted for inflation, public schools spent an average of $7,900 on library expenditures in 1992–93. By 1998–99, public schools had increased their average library expenditures to $8,700.
• The percentage of library expenditures for the purchase or rental of books was higher for public and private elementary schools than for high schools or combined schools in 1999–2000. Seventy percent of public elementary schools' library expenditures and 69 percent of private elementary schools' library expenditures were for the purchase or rental of books. In public high schools, 56 percent of library expenditures, and in public combined schools, 58 percent of library expenditures, were for the purchase or rental of books. In private high schools, 49 percent of library expenditures, and in private combined schools, 58 percent of library expenditures, were for the purchase or rental of books.

• The percentage of private school library media centers offering flexible scheduling for class visits increased from 27 percent in 1993–94 to 34 percent in 1999–2000. No such difference was detected for public schools where 30 percent in 1993–94 and 32 percent in 1999–2000 maintained a flexible schedule for class visits to the library.
• Public schools tended to provide greater access than private schools to the library media center for students' independent use before or after school. Fifty percent of public school library media centers scheduled times before or after school when students could use the library independently in 1999–2000, compared with 36 percent of private school library media centers.