Libraries

Question:
What information do you have on public school libraries?

Response:

In 2017–18, some 90 percent of all public schools had a library media center. Some 95 percent of public primary schools and 80 percent of public high schools had a library media center.

Percentage of schools with a library media center, by selected school characteristics: 2017–18
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected school characteristic	Percent
All schools	87.0 (0.41)
Public schools
All public schools	90.1 (0.40)
School classification
Traditional public	92.5 (0.39)
Charter school	62.2 (1.64)
Community type
City	85.7 (0.86)
Surburban	92.2 (0.55)
Town	90.1 (1.07)
Rural	92.1 (0.70)
School level
Primary	95.2 (0.39)
Middle	94.8 (0.68)
High	79.6 (1.13)
Combined	75.1 (1.71)
Student enrollment
Less than 100	55.8 (2.85)
100–199	75.6 (2.12)
200–499	91.9 (0.55)
500–749	95.1 (0.49)
750–999	96.8 (0.55)
1,000 or more	97.7 (0.38)
Percent of K–12 students who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches
0–34	89.3 (0.70)
35–49	93.7 (0.83)
50–74	92.8 (0.64)
75 or more	87.2 (0.87)

NOTE: A library media center is an organized collection of printed and/or audiovisual and/or computer resources which is administered as a unit, is located in a designated place or places, and makes resources and services available to students, teachers, and administrators. A library media center may be called a school library, media center, information center, instructional materials center, learning resource center, or any other similar name.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2019). Characteristics of Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States: Results From the 2017–18 National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look, Table 3.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2020, Table 701.15. Number and percentage of public schools with libraries/media centers and average number of staff per library/media center, by staff type and employment status and school level, enrollment size, and locale: 2015–16
  
• 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2021, Table 701.10. Selected statistics on public school libraries/media centers, by level of school: Selected years, 1999–2000 through 2011–12
  
• 2021, Digest of Education Statistics 2019, Table 701.20. Selected statistics on public school libraries/media centers, by level and enrollment size of school: 2011–12
  
• 2021, Digest of Education Statistics 2019, Table 701.30. Selected statistics on public school libraries/media centers, by state: 2011–12
  
• 2020, PSS Tables Library, Number and percentage of private schools that had library media centers, by school level and selected school characteristics: United States, 2017–18
  
• 2020, PSS Tables Library, Number and percentage of private schools that had library media centers, by state: United States, 2017–18
  
• 2019, NTPS Tables Library. Number of schools with a library media center and number of full–time and part–time school technology specialists and librarians/library media specialists, by selected school characteristics: 2015–16
  
• 2019, NTPS Tables Library: Percentage of private schools with a library media center, percentage with students attending across 12 months, percentage that offered any courses entirely online, and percentage that offered a foreign language immersion program, by affiliation: 2017–18
  
• 2019, NTPS Tables Library: Percentage of public schools with a library media center, percentage with students attending across 12 months, percentage that offered any courses entirely online, and percentage that offered a foreign language immersion program, by state: 2017–18
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2019, NCES Blog: Celebrating School Library Month: A Look at Library Media Centers