If last month’s post showcasing a map of library locations created in PolicyMap by Library Research Service (LRS) left you wanting more maps, you’re in luck! Library locations are relatively simple to map, but LRS also recently tackled the task of combining the boundaries of all Colorado public library systems onto one map, so anyone can see exactly where each library’s legal service area starts and ends.
Although similar maps have been created in the past, these versions are over ten years old and quite outdated. Although the jurisdictions of most library systems remain the same from year to year, sometimes there is a shift in a library’s service area. This can be due to a change in funding sources or if a library system ceases to exist altogether. For example, a previous library system map was published in 2011 when there were 115 public library systems in Colorado, but now there are 112 public library systems. Needless to say, it was time for an upgrade, and we’re excited to share this new tool for you to use.
This updated library systems map created in Tableau uses the latest data we have, which is from 2023, to show the extent of each library system’s service area and is color coded to show which type of system it is. These types of systems, such as county, district, or municipal systems, are an indicator of how the library is funded. The post, A Search Through Local Revenue Sources, provides some more information on these different ways of funding a library.
When you access this interactive map on lrs.org, hovering over a library system will bring up its name and system type, and clicking on a system selectively highlights all the systems of that same type. Similarly, you can click on a library system’s name in the list to the right of the map, and it will highlight only that single system. It’s helpful to note that if you click on a library system of interest in this list and nothing on the map jumps out at you right away, this may be because the library system you selected is very small, though it is still highlighted. To explore the map more closely you can scroll in and out or select the pan option, underlined in blue in Figure A below, so you can click and drag the map around.
Below this map, the check boxes next to system types provide another method for filtering systems by type which also allows you to highlight more than one type at a time. Or, if you want to highlight multiple library systems but not all of a certain type, you can click a system’s name in the list to the right, hold Ctrl, and click another system’s name. After filtering, you can return the map to its original view by clicking again on the selected library/libraries or pressing the Escape button on your keyboard. Lastly, in the lower left corner of the page, you’ll find the number of library systems that fall within each type of designation. Districts are the most common type of system with just over half (57) of all library systems in Colorado designated as districts. Municipal libraries are the next most common, then county libraries.
You can download a print-friendly version of the map from the blue button in the top right corner of the page and the data in Excel or CSV format from the green button just below it. If you download the print-friendly version, you may notice that the legend is formatted differently. This is simply for visual clarity because it is difficult to include the same level of detail as in an interactive online version and have it still be accessible when printed.
Even on the interactive online map, it’s hard to capture all of the intricacies of the many library systems’ boundaries. Particularly those in the metro Denver area have such complicated service areas that we decided to make a second metro Denver area map that can be accessed through the dropdown titled “Choose Map View” above and to the right of the map. The metro Denver area map operates exactly like the map of the entire state, just giving a much more detailed view of the thirteen library systems that make up this area.
Taking a step back and looking at the map as a whole, it’s interesting to see just how much area in Colorado exists within a library system. Most of the area not within a system falls in Eastern or Southern Colorado, but even the largest unshaded areas contain some small municipal systems. And, of course, public libraries in Colorado do not require people to reside within a service area to use that library’s services. This is a benefit of the Colorado Libraries Collaborate program. Many people have multiple library cards so they can have even better access to more resources. However, these system boundaries do indicate the area that fiscally supports the library within it, and so serving all the communities within this area should be the library’s top priority. We hope this map can help library staff learn more about the specific communities they serve because, for some systems, municipal or county-level data are not encompassing their entire service area.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about any aspect of this map please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at lrs@lrs.org. Thanks for reading!
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