ALA Library Fact Sheet 1 - Number of Libraries in the United States

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/library/libraryfactsheet/alalibraryfactsheet1.cfm

There are an estimated 123,291 libraries of all kinds in the United States today. No annual survey provides statistics on all types of libraries.

Number of Libraries in the United States

ALA Library Fact Sheet 1

There are an estimated 122,356 libraries of all kinds in the United States today. No annual survey provides statistics on all types of libraries.

Figures for public, academic, and school libraries come from surveys by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Specifically, the public libraries numbers come from the IMLS Public Library Survey, from the latest report in the series, Public Libraries in the United States: Fiscal Year 2007 (2009). The numbers for academic and school libraries come from the NCES Schools and Staffing Survey and the Library Statistics Program surveys: Academic Libraries: 2006 (2008); Characteristics of Public and Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Centers in the United States: Results from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey for the number of school library media centers in public and BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) schools; and Table 421. Selected statistics on school libraries/media centers, by control and level of school: 1999-2000 and 2003-04 from the 2008 Digest of Education Statistics for the number of school library media centers in private schools (more recent library media center data for private schools have not been collected because of NCES budget constraints).

Figures for special libraries, armed forces libraries, and government libraries come from the American Library DirectoryTM 2009-2010, which is a two-volume set currently published by Information Today, Inc. Find out more about this publication at the Information Today, Inc. web site, at: http://books.infotoday.com/directories/amerlib62.shtml (Information Today, Inc., Attn: Customer Service, 143 Old Marlton Pike, Medford NJ 08055-8750; telephone: 1-609-654-6266; fax: 1-609-654-4309; e-mail: custserv@infotoday.com; online database version: http://americanlibrarydirectory.com).

Public libraries (administrative units)

9,214

Centrals *

9,040

Branches

7,564

Buildings

16,604

Academic Libraries

3,617

Less than four year

1,334

Four year and above

2,283

School Libraries

99,180

Public schools

81,920

Private schools

17,100

BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs)

160
Special Libraries * *

8,906
Armed Forces Libraries

289
Government Libraries

1,150
Total

122,356

* The number of central buildings is different from the number of public libraries because some public library systems have no central building and some have more than one.

* * Special libraries include Corporate, Medical, Law, Religious, etc.


NOTE: Previous versions of this fact sheet can be accessed via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine using the original URL <http://www.ala.org/library/fact1.html>. And this URL still works as a "shortcut" link to this web page.


Additional questions about libraries in the United States might be answered on one of these fact sheets: ALA Library Fact Sheet 2 - Number Employed in Libraries, ALA Library Fact Sheet 3 - Lists of Libraries and ALA Library Fact Sheet 5 - Marketing to Libraries, and ALA Library Fact Sheet 22 - The Nation's Largest Libraries. A Listing By Volumes Held.


Last updated: September 2009


For more information on this or other fact sheets, contact the ALA Library Reference Desk by telephone: 800-545-2433, extension 2153; fax: 312-280-3255; e-mail: library@ala.org; or regular mail: ALA Library, American Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611-2795.