Libraries

Question:
What information do you have on public school libraries, college and university libraries, and public libraries?

Response:

In 2015–16, about 82,300 public schools, or 91 percent of all public schools, had a library or media center. Some 95 percent of elementary schools and 82 percent of secondary schools had a library or media center.

On average, there were 0.7 full-time certified librarians or library media specialists, 0.3 full-time library media center instructional aides, and 0.1 full-time library media center noninstructional aides per library or media center among public schools that had a library or media center.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Digest of Education Statistics, 2019 (NCES 2021-009), table 701.15.

In 2017–18, there were libraries at 92 percent of degree-granting postsecondary institutions overall, including 95 percent of public institutions, 96 percent of private nonprofit institutions, and 76 percent of private for-profit institutions.

In 2017, there were 9,045 public libraries in the United States with a total of 715 million books and serial volumes. The annual number of visits per capita—that is, per resident of the areas served by the libraries—was 4.2, the annual number of reference transactions per capita was 0.8, and the annual number of uses of public-access internet computers per capita was 0.8.

SOURCE: U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Digest of Education Statistics, 2019 (NCES 2021-009), Chapter 7.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2021, Digest of Education Statistics 2019, 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 701.15. 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
  
• 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
  
• 2021, Digest of Education Statistics 2019, Table 701.40. Collections, staff, and operating expenditures of degree-granting postsecondary institution libraries: Selected years, 2001–02 through 2017–18
  
• 2021, Digest of Education Statistics, 2019, Table 701.50. Collections, staff, operating expenditures, public service hours, and reference services of the 60 largest college and university libraries: Fiscal year 2012
  
• 2021, Digest of Education Statistics, 2019, Table 701.60. Number of public libraries, number of books and serial volumes, and per capita usage of selected library services per year, by state: Fiscal years 2016 and 2017
  
• 2021, IPEDS Data Explorer, Number of items in library collections and the number of times items are in circulation at Title IV degree-granting institutions, by level and control of institution, and type of library collection or circulation: United States, fiscal year 2019
  
• 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
  
• 2019, NTPS Tables Library: Percentage of schools with a library media center, % with students attending across 12 months, % that offered any courses entirely online, and % that offered a foreign language immersion program, by school type and selected school characteristics: 2017–18
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2021, Find A Library
  
• 2021, Library Statistics Program: This site includes data on library collections, expenditures, services, and staffing.
  
• 2019, Enrollment and Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2017; and Financial Statistics and Academic Libraries, Fiscal Year 2017: First Look (Provisional Data)
  
• 2019, NCES Blog: Celebrating School Library Month: A Look at Library Media Centers
  
• 2014, Academic Libraries: 2012 First Look