Introduction. In 1989 the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) released its first annual nationwide census of public libraries in the U.S. This program surveys the complete universe of U.S. public libraries (rather than a sample) in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and some outlying territories. The program developed out of a unique collaboration known as the Federal-State Cooperative System, which included the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) and the state library data coordinators, the American Library Association (ALA), the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (which was disbanded in 2007), and NCES. The basic data collection has been done annually by the U.S. Census Bureau which forwards results to NCES for further checking, analysis, and distribution. In the fall of 2007 this responsibility was transferred from NCES to the Institute of Museum & Library Services.
Each annual release of public library census statistics is accompanied by a report summarizing the year's data. This year's publication is entitled Public Libraries Survey: Fiscal Year 2007 . The report contains dozens of cross-tabulations of the 2007 data by categories such as state, library administrative structure, expenditure levels, and others.
About the 2000-2007 statistical trends charts. The 2007 Public Libraries Survey contains charts depicting U.S. multi-year trends for these statistical measures (see pp. 6 - 16):
circulation, visits, public Internet computers, staffing, local operating revenue, state operating revenue, operating expenditures
The data in the charts represent total figures for the entire set of U.S. public libraries surveyed. A complete description of the survey data items collected is available at IMLS and in the 2007 report.
Inspired by the IMLS charts, I developed this series of 40 charts depicting U.S. multi-year trends for several other library measures (see next section). The charts span 8 years (2000-2007) rather than the 10 years that IMLS charts do. Consistent with the IMLS analysis, I include financial data adjusted for inflation. Further information about the method and adjustment rates applied can be found in the IMLS report (p. 4).
The trends charts I created appear in the same basic order as the data items appear in the IMLS public library public use data files and the IMLS report. This order is: (1) library demographics, (2) resources, (3) collection data, and (4) services provided.
Click on VIEW CHARTS link above to see these charts.
© Ray Lyons 2009. All rights reserved.