Digest of Education Statistics, 2014 (2024)

¹“Number of public libraries” refers to the number of administrative entities that are legally established under local or state law to provide public library service to the population of a local jurisdiction. A public library (administrative entity) may have a single outlet that provides direct service to the public, or it may have multiple service outlets. Outlets can be central libraries, branch libraries, bookmobiles, or books-by-mail-only outlets. In 2011, there were a total of 17,110 service outlets; in 2012, there were 17,219 service outlets.²Per capita (or per person) data are based on unduplicated populations of the areas served by public libraries.³Includes only the number of physical visits (entering the library for any purpose). The survey does not collect data on the number of online visits.⁴A reference transaction is an information contact that involves the knowledge, use, recommendations, interpretation, or instruction in the use of one or more information sources by a member of the library staff.NOTE: Data include imputations for nonresponse. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.SOURCE: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal years 2011 and 2012, retrieved March 2, 2015, from http://www.imls.gov/research/public_libraries_in_the_united_states_survey.aspx. (This table was prepared April 2015.)