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.
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