Characteristics of Libraries

American public libraries are tremendously diverse, both in the services they offer and in the communities they serve. Patronage in the libraries in this nationally representative sample ranged from 7 patrons per week to 34,315 patrons per week, with a mean of 1,007 patrons per week.⁴ This mean number of library patrons per week does not give the whole picture, however; a look at the distribution indicates that during fall 1988-
 

• One-quarter (25 percent) of libraries served 100 or fewer patrons per week;
   
• Half (50 percent) served 300 or fewer patrons per week;
   
• Almost three-quarters (73 percent) served fewer than 1,000 patrons per week; and
   
• Only 1 percent served 10,000 or more patrons per week.⁵

The number of library patrons per week is strongly related to the type of library. Main libraries with branches had a mean of 3,370 patrons per week, while main libraries without branches had a mean of only 713 patrons per week, and branch libraries had a mean of 944 patrons per week. Figure 1 shows the relationship between the categories of library type and number of library patrons per week. Of particular note is that 61 percent of main libraries with branches served 1,000 or more patrons per week.

This diversity in libraries is also reflected in the number of hours per week the library is open to serve the public. The hours open for libraries in this survey ranged from 2 to 84 per week in fall 1988, with a mean of 39 hours. About half (48 percent) of libraries were open fewer than 40 hours per week; about one-quarter (26 percent) were open 24 or fewer hours per week. The number of hours open per week is strongly related to the number of library patrons per week (Figure 2) and the type of library (Figure 3). Libraries that served 1,000 or more patrons per week and main libraries with branches were open the greatest number of hours per week.

The percentage of the library's total circulation that is children"s materials ranged from O percent (at a library where users must be at least 14 years old) to 100 percent at a public library located in a & school), with a mean of 43 percent.⁶ The percentage of the library"s book budget spent on children's books showed a similar pattern, ranging from O to 100 percent, with a mean of 35 percent.⁷ As shown in Figure 4, these two variables are strongly related to each other; libraries that have more circulation in children's materials generally spend a greater percentage of their book budget on children's books.

⁴Number of library users per week was obtained from the survey and used as a measure of size. Number of library users per week and percentage of library users 14 years old and under are based on door counts or similar counts of the number of persons entering the library rather than on circulation or other measures of library book usage. These figures are duplicated counts (i.e., a person who enters the library multiple times in a week is counted each time he or she enters the library), and include persons entering library buildings to attend activities or meetings and those using no library services.

⁵The percentage of the book budget that is used for children's books is based on data obtained from the survey and is used as a measure of relative resource expenditures on children's books compared with other book collections. Information was obtained about the book budget rather than the budget for all materials because the survey pretest indicated that information about the book budget was much more readily available than information about the budget for all materials.

⁶While at first glance these two libraries seem to be statistical outliers, examination of the frequency distribution indicates that the distribution is continuous. If these two libraries are removed from the data set, the distribution runs from 2 percent to 97 percent.

⁷If the two libraries mentioned above are removed from the data set, the distribution still runs from O to 100 percent. Zero percent responses occurred in several libraries because they had severe budget problems, and 100 percent responses occurred because some libraries only purchased children's books last year.

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