Fast Facts

Libraries

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

Response:
Among public schools that had a library in 2011–12, the average number of library staff per school was 1.8, including 0.9 certified library/media specialists. On average, public school libraries had larger numbers of books on a per student basis in 2011–12 (2,188 per 100 students) than in 1999–2000 (1,803 per 100 students), 2003–04 (1,891 per 100 students), and 2007–08 (2,015 per 100 students). In 2011–12, public elementary school libraries had larger holdings than public secondary school libraries on a per student basis (2,570 books per 100 students, compared with 1,474 books per 100 students).

At degree-granting postsecondary institutions, library operating expenditures per full-time-equivalent (FTE) student were 1 percent higher in 2001–02 than in 1991–92, after adjustment for inflation. From 2001–02 to 2011–12, library operating expenditures per FTE student dropped 25 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. Overall, there was a net decrease of 24 percent in library operating expenditures per FTE student between 1991–92 and 2011–12. In 2011–12, library operating expenditures per FTE student averaged $441 (in current dollars) across all degree-granting institutions. The amount varied widely by institution control, however. Library operating expenditures averaged $844 per FTE student attending a private nonprofit institution in 2011–12, compared with $372 per FTE student attending a public institution, and $78 per FTE student attending a private for-profit institution.

In 2011–12, the average number of volumes per FTE student also differed for public institutions (61 volumes), private nonprofit institutions (128 volumes), and private for-profit institutions (4 volumes). Across all degree-granting institutions, the average number of volumes per FTE student in 2011–12 was 69, which was 4 percent less than in 1991–92. The calculations of library operating expenditures and number of volumes per FTE student include both institutions with libraries and those without libraries. In 2011–12, there were libraries at 81 percent of degree-granting institutions overall, 95 percent of public institutions, 88 percent of private nonprofit institutions, and 55 percent of private for-profit institutions. In 2010, there were 8,951 public libraries in the United States with a total of 808 million books and serial volumes. The annual number of visits per capita—that is, per resident of the areas served by the libraries—was 5.3, and the annual number of reference transactions per capita was 1.0.

SOURCE: U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2015). Digest of Education Statistics, 2013 (NCES 2015-011), Chapter 7.

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