ALA, CPANDA release data from ground-breaking study on cultural programs in U.S. public libraries

Contact: Laura Hayes, ALA


312-280-5055


lhayes@ala.org

For Immediate Release


September 26, 2003

ALA , CPANDA release data from ground-breaking study on cultural programs in U.S. public libraries

The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office and the Cultural Policy & the Arts National Data Archive (CPANDA) have for the fist time made the complete data set from a 1998 ALA study on cultural programs for adults in public libraries available online at
www.cpanda.org
. The Web site provides complete study documentation and a brief overview of the study’s key findings. Visitors may download the data set or analyze the data online. Access to the Web site and downloads are free of charge.

“By depositing the data from its ground-breaking study into CPANDA, the ALA extends the reach of the study to new audiences and ensures that the data is preserved for future use,” said Lawrence T. McGill, director of research and planning for CPANDA.
“We are delighted to bring the study to the attention of arts and cultural policy researchers, as it is the first to document the role played by America’s public libraries as significant sources of cultural programming for adults.”

Program data was collected from 1,229 public libraries on such issues as: the types of adult cultural programming offered at each library, program attendance and funding, collaboration with other organizations on cultural programs, the cultural role of the library, and the relative availability of cultural programming in the community served by the library.
The ALA Public Programs Office and the Library Research Center at the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science conducted the study with support from The Wallace Foundation.

The study was the first of its kind to gather systematic data within the scope and nature of cultural programs in America’s public libraries.
According to the ALA study, the vast majority (86%) of public libraries surveyed offered some form of cultural programming for adults in 1997 and 1998. While the most common forms of programming were literary in nature, a sizable minority of libraries also played host to lecture series (44%), musical performances (42%), dramatic performances (23%), and dance performances (14%).

The ALA Public Programs Office fosters cultural programming by libraries of all types.
Established in 1990, the office helps thousands of libraries nationwide to develop and host programs that encourage dialogue among community members and works to establish libraries as cultural centers in their communities.

CPANDA, the Cultural Policy & the Arts National Data Archive, is the world’s first interactive digital archive of policy-relevant data on the arts and cultural policy in the United States. A collaborative effort of Princeton University's Firestone Library and the Princeton Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, CPANDA is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.