Recent Fast Facts 
- Challenged Materials in Colorado Public Libraries, 2010
- High Traffic, Low Cost: The Colorado Courier Continues to Save Libraries Millions Annually in Shipping Charges
- CTBL Continues to Earn High Marks
- Summer in Colorado Means Reading Programs for All Ages
- Should Public Library Management be Privatized? Viewpoints from the Field
- See more Fast Facts.
Recent LRS News
- Public Libraries in the Digital Age
- Pew Research Posts a Sneak Peek of Their Research Timeline for Their 2-Year Study of Libraries
- New Fast Facts: Public Library Challenges, 2010
- Preliminary 2011 Public Library Data Now Available
- High Traffic, Low Cost: The Colorado Courier Continues to Save Libraries Millions Annually in Shipping Charges
- Library Visits at Historic High -- Visits Top 1.5 Billion
- Find more LRS news on our blog
National Public Library Statistics
Statistics are collected at the Institute of Museum and Library Services from more than 9,000 public libraries, via the Federal State Cooperative System (FSCS). Data are available for individual public libraries and are also aggregated to state and national levels.
Public Libraries in the United States
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992IMLS also makes available computer files of annual data for about 9,000 administrative entities (i.e., jurisdictions) and about 16,000 outlets. Data files are available for 1992 to the present. Earlier files are available in both ASCII and .dbf formats, while more recent ones are available in both ASCII and MS Access (.mdb) formats. MS Access, SPSS, SAS, or similar statistical analysis software is recommended to users of these files. MS Excel and other spreadsheet applications are not recommended due to the structure and size of the files.
Comparison Tools
- NCES Tools
- Peer Comparison Tool - Compare your public library with its peers
- Public Library Locator - Locate libraries by name
- Other Tools
- Compare Public Libraries - Use this site to create reports comparing one library of interest to other libraries.
- Search for a Public Library
- US Library Data Archive Formerly housed by tht National Commission of Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), LRS now hosts files consist of compilations of raw annual data, longitudinal recompilations of those annual data, summary analysis of the libraries, reports on them, methodoligical studies, and documentation