Public Library Statistics and Resources

• Other States’ Library Statistics. Access public library statistics for states other than Colorado through these resources. Most are available on the website of each state library.
• National Library Statistics. Want to see the national picture in public library statistics? Check out these individual library and aggregated state and national data sets from IMLS.
• National Public Library Percentiles. Explore percentiles for key library statistics–including materials expenditures, circulation, and turnover rates–and categorized by legal service area.
• Public Library Association surveys.
• State of America’s Libraries Report 2024. A annual report from the American Library Association created to “inform the public about important trends and key issues facing America’s libraries.”
• Banned and Challenged Books: Censorship by the Numbers. Described as ALA’s “who, what, where and why or censorship.” Also includes information on the “Top 10 Most Challenged Books.”
• Library Data Archive. An extensive collection of data and reports about libraries in the United States, Canada, and beyond.

Research

• Public Library Association (PLA) Surveys and Data. Contains the latest reports for the Public Library Staff and Diversity Survey, the Public Library Technology survey, and more.
• Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. A peer-reviewed journal that contains updates on the latest developments in the field.
• Public Library Quarterly. Created to “publish articles on best practices for public libraries, library myths affecting development, marketing and fund-raising tools, children’s programs and more” for directors, managers, staff, trustees, and library friends.
• National Impact of Library Public Programs Assessment. Explores public programming at U.S. libraries.
• Library Journal – Research. Find the latest research published by Library Journal.
• New Research Explores How Public Libraries Can Best Combat Misinformation. A article from Public Libraries Online (a publication of the Public Library Association)

• The Who, What, When, Where, and Why of Public Library Surveys and Tools. Learn about the variety of public library surveys, including timelines, agencies involved, and content.
• Community Analysis. Knowing your community is an integral part of providing meaningful library service. Use these state and national resources for your own community analysis.
• Challenge Support. Information from the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom about support during censorship challenges as well as how to report them to ALA.
• The Library Blueprints: Blog series from LRS providing detailed guidance for analyzing and constructing visualizations from the Public Library Annual Report (PLAR) data.
• Between A Graph and A Hard Place: Blog series from LRS with helpful tips on how to do reliable research.
• Real News/Fake News: Fact Checkers. A handy LibGuide from University of California Berkeley.

• • Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR). Includes resources and reporting on the program which is an “adult-focused education outreach program on early literacy” and is regularly used to guide early-literacy programming in public libraries.
  • Growing Readers Together. A team at the Colorado State Library that helps public libraries “provide library services to FFN [Family, Friend & Neighbor] providers in their communities, with the ultimate goal of increasing the quality and quantity of early literacy activities that providers engage in daily with the children in their care.”
  • Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy. A professional organization created to “develop a comprehensive approach to deliver and support early literacy services statewide.” Includes a variety of resources for research on best early literacy practices.