E.D. TABS:

State Library Agencies, Fiscal Year 1995

May 1997

(NCES 97-434) Ordering information

Highlights

• Virtually all state library agencies (48 states and the District of Columbia) are located in the executive branch of government. Of these, over 60 percent are part of a larger agency, the most common being the state department of education. In two states, Arizona and Michigan, the agency reports to the legislature (tables 1a and 1b).

Allied and Other Special Operations

• A total of 19 state library agencies reported having one or more allied operations (table 2). Allied operations most frequently linked with a state library agency are the state archives (10 states), the state records management service (11 states), and the state legislative reference/research service (nine states).
• Fourteen state agencies contract with libraries in their states to serve as resource or reference/ information service centers. Seventeen state agencies operate a State Center for the Book/1 (table 2).

Electronic Network Development

• In all 50 states, the state library agency plans or monitors electronic network development, 42 states operate such networks, and 46 states develop network content (table 3).
• State agencies also provide significant support to library access to the Internet. Almost all of them (49 states and the District of Columbia) are involved in facilitating library access to the Internet in one or more of the following ways: training library staff or consulting in the use of the Internet; providing a subsidy for Internet participation; providing equipment needed to access the Internet; managing servers, bulletin boards, or listservs; or mounting directories, data bases, or online catalogs (table 3).

Library Development Services

Services to Public Libraries

• Every state library agency provides these types of services to public libraries: administration of LSCA (Library Services and Construction Act) grants, collection of library statistics, continuing education, and library planning, evaluation, and research (table 4a).
• Services to public libraries provided by at least three-quarters of state agencies include: administration of state aid, consulting services, interlibrary loan referral services, library legislation preparation or review, literacy program support, public relations or promotional campaigns, reference referral services, state standards or guidelines, summer reading program support, and union list development (table 4a).
• Services to public libraries provided by at least half of state agencies include Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Group Access Capability and certification of librarians (table 4a).
• Less common services to public libraries include: accreditation of libraries, cooperative purchasing of library materials, preservation/conservation services, and retrospective conversion of bibliographic records (table 4a).

Services to Academic Libraries

• Over two-thirds of state library agencies report the following services to the academic sector: administering LSCA Title III grants, referring interlibrary loans, offering reference referral services, and developing union lists (table 4b). Three-fifths of state agencies serve academic libraries through continuing education.
• Less common services to academic libraries provided by state agencies include: literacy program support, preservation/conservation, retrospective conversion, and standards or guidelines. No state agency accredits academic libraries or certifies academic librarians (table 4b).

Services to School Library Media Centers

• Over two-thirds of state library agencies provide interlibrary loan referral services to school library media centers (LMCs) (table 4c). Services to LMCs provided by over half of state agencies include: administration of LSCA Title III grants, continuing education, reference referral, and union list development.
• Less common services to LMCs include: administration of state aid and cooperative purchasing of library materials. No state agency accredits LMCs or certifies librarians (table 4c).

Services to Special Libraries

• At least two-thirds of state agencies serve special libraries through administration of LSCA grants, continuing education, interlibrary loan referral, and reference referral (table 4d). Over half provide union list development and consulting services.
• Less common services to special libraries include administration of state aid, cooperative purchasing of library materials, or summer reading program support. No state agency accredits special libraries or certifies special librarians (table 4d).

Services to Systems

• Three-fifths of state agencies serve library systems through administration of LSCA grants, consulting services, continuing education, interlibrary loan referral services, library legislation preparation or review, reference referral, and library planning, evaluation, and research (table 4e).
• Accreditation of systems is provided by only six states and certification of system librarians, by only seven states (table 4e).

Service Outlets

• State library agencies reported a total of 159 service outlets. Main or central outlets accounted for 34.0 percent, other outlets (excluding bookmobiles) made up 58.5 percent (with Kentucky and Washington reporting the largest number, at 21 each) and Bookmobiles represented 7.5 percent of the total (table 5).

Collections

• The number of books and serial volumes held by state library agencies totaled 20.3 million, with New York accounting for the largest collection (2.3 million) (table 7). Five state agencies had book and serial volumes of over one million. In other states, these collections ranged from 500,000 to one million (11 states), 200,000 to 499,999 (8 states), 100,000 to 199,999 (12 states), 50,000 to 99,999 (5 states), and less than 50,000 (10 states). The state library agency in Maryland does not maintain a collection, and the District of Columbia does not maintain a collection in its function as a state library agency.
• The number of serial subscriptions held by state library agencies totaled almost 80,000, with New York holding the largest number (over 14,000). Seventeen state agencies reported serial subscriptions of over 1,000. In other states, these collections ranged from 500 to 999 (17 states), 100 to 499 (13 states), and under 100 (3 states).

Staff

• The total number of budgeted full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in state library agencies was 3,602.2 (table 11a). Librarians with ALA-MLS degrees accounted for 1,158.3 of these positions, or 32.2 percent of total FTE positions. Rhode Island reported the largest percentage (57.1) of ALA-MLS librarians, and West Virginia reported the lowest (16.1 percent).

Income

• State library agencies reported a total income of $752.9 million in FY 95 (82.1 percent came from state sources, 16.3 percent from Federal, and 1.6 percent from other sources) (table 14).
• Of state library agency income received from state sources, nearly $420 million (67.9 percent) was designated for state aid to libraries (table 16). Massachusetts had the largest percentage of state library agency income set aside for state aid (96.6 percent). Eight states targeted no state funds for aid to libraries. The District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington reported state income only for operation of the state agency./2

Expenditures

• State library agencies reported total expenditures of over $725.2 million (table 17). The largest percentage (81.6 percent) came from state funds, followed by federal funds(17.1 percent), and other funds (1.3 percent).
• Three states shared the highest percentage of expenditures from state sources (92 percent) (table 17). These states were Georgia (92.0 percent), Illinois (91.7 percent), and New York (91.8 percent). Louisiana had the lowest percentage of expenditures from state sources (45.0 percent), with 54.7 percent of its expenditures coming from Federal sources.
• Sixty-nine percent of total state library expenditures were for aid to libraries, with the largest percentages expended on individual public libraries (49.6 percent) and public library systems (21.1 percent) (tables 22 and 24c).
• Sixteen state library agencies reported expenditures on allied operations totaling $18.8 million--just under three percent (2.6 percent) of total expenditures by state library agencies (table 26). Among the state agencies reporting such expenditures, the highest was reported by Texas ($3.2 million) and the lowest by Georgia ($6,000)/3.
• Twenty-nine state library agencies reported a total of $20.6 million in grants and contracts expenditures to assist public libraries with state education reform initiatives or the National Education Goals (table 27). Almost three-quarters of the expenditures were used to promote adult literacy and lifelong learning, and over one quarter to promote readiness for school. Of these state agencies, four (Minnesota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) focused their grants and contracts expenditures exclusively on readiness for school projects, and five (Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Texas) focused their expenditures exclusively on adult literacy and lifelong learning projects.

FOOTNOTES:

1/ The State Center for the Book is part of the Center for the Book program sponsored by the Library of Congress which promotes books, reading, and literacy, and is hosted or funded by the State.
2/ The District of Columbia Public Library functions as a state library agency and is eligible for Federal LSCA (Library Services and Construction Act) in this capacity. The state library agency in Hawaii is associated with the Hawaii State Public Library System and operates all public libraries within its jurisdiction. The state funds for aid to libraries for these two agencies are reported on the NCES Public Libraries Survey, rather than on the STLA survey, because of the unique situation of these two state agencies, and in order to eliminate duplicative reporting of these data.
3/ Alaska, Kansas, and Pennsylvania have allied operations, but the expenditures are not from the state library agency budget.

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