If you would like a printed booklet of this information please email lrs@lrs.org.
Discover your public library’s potential…
•In Colorado there are 267 public library locations. That is more public libraries than King Soopers, City Market, and Safeway grocery stores combined!
•Together the libraries have over 12 million physical items in their collections. That’s more than 300 times the movie and TV show titles on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Disney+ and Hulu combined.
•Colorado public libraries provide many services beyond their collections. In 2023, more than 100,000 programs were offered for children, teens, and adults.
•A total of 35,364 items are available in libraries of things across Colorado. A “library of things” can include outdoor games, tools and equipment, household items, technology and gadgets.
•All of these materials and services resulted in more than 19 million visits to public libraries in 2023. That’s more than 3 times the number of visitors to Colorado’s four national parks!
•Programs had an attendance of 1.7 million. If each attendee had bought a movie ticket instead, they would have collectively paid $18 million.
•Library users asked more than 2 million reference questions and checked out materials more than 57 million times.
•3,858 library staff make all of this possible. 58% of libraries have fewer than 10 staff members.
•But libraries don’t work by themselves. 93% of Colorado libraries reported partnering with groups or organizations to better serve their communities.
•Public libraries circulated backpacks containing free state park passes and exploration kits 9,226 times in 2023 through a partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
•Libraries are evolving to increase access. Colorado libraries provide access to millions of e-books, e-audiobooks, streamable songs, movies and TV shows.
•In 2023, 95% of libraries provided one-on-one help with technology and library visitors used internet computers 2.5 million times.
•Over half of Colorado public libraries provided automatic renewals in 2023 and 83% did not charge fees or fines for late items.
Keep exploring your Colorado public library’s potential:
•Colorado State Library: www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib
•Library Research Service: www.LRS.org
•Colorado Virtual Library: www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org
•Libraries Learn: www.librarieslearn.org
•Library Jobline: www.libraryjobline.org
•Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection: www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org
Library Research Service www.LRS.org ©2024
This project is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Data and Resources for the 2023 Quotable Facts
Click here to access an Excel file of the 2023 data used to complete this booklet.
Library Locations
PLAR 2023 data – Total Central and Branches: 267
- 118 King Soopers (King Soopers Website “Grocery Stores in Colorado”)
- 33 City Market grocery stores (ScrapeHero data “Number of City Market stores in the United States in 2023”)
- 103 Safeways (ScrapeHero data “Number of Safeway Inc stores in the United States in 2023”)
Physical items available for checkout
PLAR 2023 data – Total number of physical items: 12,682,169
- Numbers found on JustWatch as of 7/18/2024
Programs offered
PLAR 2023 data – Total Number of Live Program Sessions: 103,749
Library of Things collection items
PLAR 2023 data – Number of other physical items: 35,364
Number of annual visits
PLAR 2023 data – Annual Visits: 19,614,777
- Visitors to all four national parks in Colorado: nearly 5.5 million (Estes Park Trail Gazette “RMNP visitation drops by more than 4 percent in 2023”)
Program attendance
PLAR 2023 data – Total Attendance at Onsite Programs: 1,793,885
- Average cost of movie in Colorado: $10.80 (Frugal Answers article “Average Cost of a Movie Ticket Price (By Theater, By State, By Country)”)
Reference questions
PLAR 2023 data – Annual Reference Transactions: 2,384,302
Items circulated annually
PLAR 2023 data – Total Circulation: 57,274,284
Staff
PLAR 2023 data – Total Paid Employees: 3,858
- 64 of 110 reporting libraries had less than 10 staff members
Libraries that partner
PLAR 2023 data – Did your library partner with one or more organizations or groups in order to better serve your community?: 93%
- 96 of 103 reporting libraries answered “yes”.
State park passes checkouts per week
PLAR 2023 data – Circulation of Check Out Colorado State Parks Passes: 9,226
One-on-one technology help
PLAR 2023 data – Do you provide 1:1 technology help to the public?: 95%
- 104 of 109 reporting libraries responded “yes”.
Internet computer usage
PLAR 2023 data – Number of uses (sessions) of public internet computers per year: 2,553,380
Automatic Renewals
PLAR 2023 data – Do you have automatic renewals?: 56%
- 61 of 109 responding libraries answered “Yes”.
Overdue fines
PLAR 2023 data – As of the end of the reporting period, does the library charge overdue fines to any users when they fail to return physical print materials by the due date?: 83%
- 91 of 110 responding libraries answered “No”.