Fast FactsLibraries
Question:
What information do you have on public school libraries?
Response:
In 2020–21, some 88 percent of all public schools had a library media center. Some 91 percent of traditional public schools and 52 percent of public charter schools had a library media center.
| Percentage of schools with a library media center1, by selected school characteristics: 2020–21 | |
| [Standard errors appear in parentheses] | |
| Selected school characteristic | Percent |
| All schools | 84.8 (0.45) |
| Public schools | |
| All public schools | 87.6 (0.44) |
| School classification | |
| Traditional public | 91.3 (0.45) |
| Charter school | 52.3 (1.73) |
| Community type | |
| City | 83.0 (0.87) |
| Suburban | 89.8 (0.67) |
| Town | 85.8 (1.28) |
| Rural | 90.5 (0.91) |
| School level2 | |
| Elementary | 92.5 (0.51) |
| Middle | 94.1 (0.76) |
| Secondary/high | 75.5 (1.25) |
| Combined/other | 74.4 (2.45) |
| Student enrollment | |
| Less than 100 | 53.0 (3.18) |
| 100–199 | 75.2 (2.10) |
| 200–499 | 90.1 (0.67) |
| 500–749 | 92.3 (0.69) |
| 750–999 | 94.7 (0.81) |
| 1,000 or more | 94.2 (0.85) |
| Percent of K–12 students who were approved for free or reduced-price lunches | |
| 0–34 | 86.7 (0.93) |
| 35–49 | 94.4 (0.81) |
| 50–74 | 87.4 (1.08) |
| 75 or more | 86.0 (0.70) |
| Reported effect of COVID-19 on instruction3 | |
| Offering only distance-learning instruction | 84.5 (0.98) |
| Offering a hybrid of in-person and distance-learning instruction | 88.9 (0.54) |
| Offering only in-person instruction or no effect on the instruction offered | 83.2 (2.05) |
1 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. 2 Elementary schools offer at least one grade of K to 4, and the number of elementary grades is higher than the number of middle grades. Middle schools offer at least one of grades 5 to 8, and the number of middle grades is greater than the number of elementary or secondary grades. Secondary/high schools are defined as schools that enroll students in more of grades 9 through 12 than in lower grades. Combined/other schools include all other combinations of grades, including K–12 schools. School level categories in the 2020–21 NTPS differ from those in previous survey administrations; caution should be exercised when comparing estimates by level over time. For more information, see Appendix C: Description of Variables in the SOURCE document. 3 Schools were asked to report the current effect of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on instruction at the school at the time they completed the survey. Thus, this was the reported effect on instruction at the time the survey was completed, not a summary of the school year.
NOTE: Data are weighted estimates of the population.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2022). Characteristics of 2020–21 Public and Private K-12 Schools in the United States: Results from the National Teacher and Principal Survey First Look, Table A-4.
Related Tables and Figures: (Listed by Release Date)
- 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
- 2022, Digest of Education Statistics 2021, 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
- 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, percentage with students attending across 12 months, percentage that offered any courses entirely online, & percentage that offered a foreign language immersion program, by school type & selected school characteristics: 2017–18
Other Resources: (Listed by Release Date)