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Digest of Education Statistics
2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 701.20. Selected statistics on public school libraries/media centers, by level and enrollment size of school: 2011-12
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected statistic All public school libraries/
media centers
Elementary school enrollment size Secondary school enrollment size
Total Less than 150 150 to 499 500 to 749 750 or more Total Less than 500 500 to 749 750 to 1,499 1,500 or more
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Number of schools with libraries/media                                                  
centers 81,200 (510) 58,000 (418) 3,000   (308) 29,700 (658) 16,600 (591) 8,600   (426) 17,100 (357) 6,400 (289) 3,100 (170) 4,600 (188) 3,000   (160)
                                                   
Average number of staff per library/media                                                  
center 1.77 (0.017) 1.72 (0.020) 1.76   (0.226) 1.66 (0.022) 1.75 (0.032) 1.87   (0.040) 1.93 (0.027) 1.58 (0.041) 1.76 (0.050) 2.07 (0.045) 2.63   (0.062)
Certified library/media specialists 0.90 (0.012) 0.88 (0.014) 0.90   (0.176) 0.86 (0.016) 0.88 (0.019) 0.92   (0.024) 0.99 (0.017) 0.78 (0.029) 0.95 (0.029) 1.10 (0.024) 1.32   (0.039)
Full-time 0.71 (0.010) 0.67 (0.012) 0.47 ! (0.171) 0.61 (0.015) 0.74 (0.016) 0.81   (0.022) 0.84 (0.017) 0.59 (0.029) 0.81 (0.025) 0.99 (0.021) 1.21   (0.037)
Part-time 0.20 (0.008) 0.21 (0.010) 0.44   (0.054) 0.26 (0.014) 0.14 (0.014) 0.11   (0.017) 0.15 (0.010) 0.19 (0.018) 0.15 (0.025) 0.11 (0.019) 0.12   (0.018)
Other professional staff 0.19 (0.007) 0.18 (0.009) 0.27 ! (0.081) 0.18 (0.014) 0.18 (0.020) 0.16   (0.019) 0.17 (0.014) 0.21 (0.027) 0.19 (0.030) 0.14 (0.015) 0.14   (0.019)
Full-time 0.12 (0.006) 0.11 (0.007) 0.19 ! (0.076) 0.10 (0.010) 0.09 (0.011) 0.13   (0.020) 0.13 (0.013) 0.14 (0.025) 0.12 (0.030) 0.11 (0.014) 0.13   (0.019)
Part-time 0.07 (0.005) 0.07 (0.007) 0.08 ! (0.034) 0.08 (0.010) 0.09 (0.016) 0.03 ! (0.009) 0.05 (0.005) 0.07 (0.013) 0.07 (0.017) 0.02 (0.006) 0.02 ! (0.005)
Other paid employees 0.68 (0.011) 0.66 (0.012) 0.59   (0.063) 0.61 (0.016) 0.69 (0.026) 0.79   (0.035) 0.76 (0.021) 0.59 (0.032) 0.62 (0.036) 0.84 (0.032) 1.16   (0.049)
Full-time 0.40 (0.008) 0.37 (0.009) 0.29   (0.048) 0.32 (0.013) 0.39 (0.017) 0.51   (0.027) 0.52 (0.017) 0.35 (0.024) 0.39 (0.030) 0.61 (0.028) 0.87   (0.044)
Part-time 0.28 (0.009) 0.29 (0.012) 0.30   (0.061) 0.29 (0.015) 0.30 (0.022) 0.28   (0.029) 0.24 (0.012) 0.24 (0.020) 0.23 (0.026) 0.22 (0.024) 0.29   (0.027)
                                                   
Percent of libraries/media centers with                                                  
certain media equipment                                                  
Automated catalog 88.3 (0.49) 89.1 (0.60) 75.2   (4.05) 88.0 (0.97) 90.0 (1.14) 96.2   (0.81) 90.3 (0.78) 80.4 (1.72) 93.3 (1.72) 97.2 (0.73) 97.1   (0.82)
Automated circulation system 90.3 (0.47) 91.7 (0.59) 77.0   (4.30) 91.4 (0.80) 93.0 (1.07) 95.7   (0.97) 90.1 (0.75) 81.2 (1.60) 94.1 (1.62) 96.2 (0.94) 95.3   (1.00)
Media retrieval system1 32.5 (0.76) 33.6 (0.99) 15.9   (3.35) 27.3 (1.48) 39.2 (1.77) 51.1   (2.24) 32.3 (0.91) 25.2 (1.89) 36.8 (2.56) 38.7 (1.99) 32.7   (2.19)
Connection to Internet 95.9 (0.34) 96.2 (0.46) 88.6   (3.28) 95.7 (0.66) 97.3 (0.79) 98.5   (0.64) 97.3 (0.49) 93.9 (1.18) 98.4 (0.67) 99.4 (0.33) 100.0   (†)
Digital video disc (DVD) player/video                                                  
cassette recorder (VCR) 83.2 (0.76) 82.8 (0.98) 66.0   (5.70) 83.1 (1.33) 84.3 (1.49) 84.6   (2.02) 86.7 (0.76) 83.9 (1.50) 89.5 (1.82) 88.4 (1.23) 87.0   (1.88)
Disability assistance technologies,                                                  
such as TDD 31.0 (0.75) 29.9 (0.94) 20.7   (3.54) 26.8 (1.33) 33.2 (2.00) 37.4   (2.25) 34.3 (1.02) 30.8 (2.29) 34.6 (2.53) 36.8 (2.17) 37.6   (2.67)
                                                   
Percent of libraries/media centers with                                                  
certain services                                                  
Students permitted to check out                                                  
laptops 40.2 (0.69) 39.3 (0.85) 31.7   (4.21) 38.5 (1.52) 39.7 (2.01) 44.1   (2.02) 42.4 (1.08) 42.7 (2.07) 40.3 (2.72) 44.3 (2.12) 40.9   (2.77)
Staff permitted to check out laptops 54.3 (0.85) 53.9 (0.99) 38.9   (4.84) 51.8 (1.65) 57.5 (1.89) 59.6   (2.20) 55.5 (1.23) 52.6 (2.24) 55.6 (2.76) 58.1 (2.31) 57.8   (2.37)
                                                   
Number of library computer workstations                                                  
per 100 students 3.1 (0.05) 2.8 (0.06) 12.0   (1.49) 3.7 (0.13) 2.3 (0.09) 2.1   (0.07) 3.6 (0.08) 7.2 (0.35) 4.4 (0.16) 3.5 (0.09) 2.6   (0.12)
                                                   
Number of holdings per 100 students at                                                  
the end of the school year2                                                  
Books (number of volumes) 2,188 (42.4) 2,570 (58.5) 9,505   (1472.0) 3,273 (115.0) 2,366 (101.2) 1,692   (53.5) 1,474 (24.7) 3,252 (98.6) 1,908 (74.2) 1,338 (21.2) 976   (20.9)
Audio and video materials 81 (2.4) 85 (3.3) 201   (58.1) 100 (6.6) 80 (4.5) 67   (5.9) 71 (2.9) 131 (8.7) 83 (7.3) 73 (5.4) 50   (4.0)
                                                   
Number of additions per 100 students                                                  
during the school year2                                                  
Books (number of volumes) 89.4 (3.47) 104.8 (5.45) 423.0   (83.50) 126.3 (6.91) 99.5 (12.14) 73.4   (4.29) 58.9 (2.08) 124.0 (9.17) 77.5 (5.52) 50.0 (2.54) 43.0   (3.70)
Audio and video materials 4.3 (0.37) 3.8 (0.32) 10.6 ! (4.33) 4.7 (0.50) 3.2 (0.29) 3.2   (0.79) 4.2 (0.70) 5.8 (0.66) 4.3 (0.55) 3.5 (0.67) 4.5 ! (1.50)
                                                   
Total expenditures for library/media                                                  
materials per pupil2,3 $16.00 (0.691) $16.48 (1.099) $46.34   (7.286) $20.40 (1.625) $15.81 (2.409) $11.31   (0.649) $14.80 (0.584) $27.69 (2.135) $18.59 (2.051) $13.48 (0.571) $11.26   (1.169)
Books 10.28 (0.343) 10.73 (0.480) 32.08   (5.256) 12.82 (0.566) 9.83 (1.001) 8.47   (0.505) 9.41 (0.526) 16.28 (1.284) 12.55 (2.077) 8.06 (0.451) 7.70   (1.025)
Audio and video materials 0.84 (0.072) 0.80 (0.113) 1.02   (0.257) 0.80 (0.074) 1.00 (0.294) 0.56   (0.064) 0.89 (0.062) 1.50 (0.238) 0.79 (0.072) 0.88 (0.080) 0.77   (0.113)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
1 Centralized video distribution equipment with a scheduling and control server that telecasts video to classrooms.
2 Holdings, additions, and expenditures are from the prior school year, while enrollment counts are from the current school year.
3 Includes other expenditures not separately shown.
NOTE: Total includes combined elementary/secondary schools not separately shown. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Library Media Center Questionnaire," 2011-12. (This table was prepared December 2013.)

2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest