With the interesting economic climate and the crunch felt by government budgets at all levels and in several countries, libraries and their funding are once again a
hot topic of discussion. While some folks regard public libraries as empty buildings offering
antiquated services, the numbers since the Great Recession and before tell a different story.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services issued
a report in June, 2010, whose first sentence is:
"Public library visits and circulations per capita increased almost 20 percent between FY1999 and FY2008, while the number of public librarians per 25,000 people has remained virtually the same during that same period..."
For those of us who learn visually, here's a neat graph explaining that sentence:
One Day in the Life of New Mexico Libraries, also known as
Library Snapshot Day, provides this same conclusion from a different perspective. For example, on April 14, 2010, "23,159 people visited New Mexico libraries", while only "15,573 people passengers departed from the Albuquerque International Sunport."
Another picture for you:
OCLC, a non-profit that serves libraries, also compiled information in their report
How Libraries Stack Up: 2010.
Some facts from their report:
"Every day, 300,000 Americans get job-seeking help at their public library."
"Every year, Americans visit the library more often than we go to the movies and six times more often than we attend live sporting events (includes professional and NCAA football, baseball, basketball and hockey)."
"Most public libraries provide free wireless Internet access for their users. Nearly 12,000 now offer free Wi-Fi. That’s more than Starbucks, Barnes & Noble or Borders."
And once again, a pretty graph:
Could public libraries overall do a better job at serving their populations? Of course they could, but it is honestly something we strive to do every day. No matter what your age, think about how libraries "used to be", and then compare them to today's libraries with its
online catalog,
downloadable audiobooks,
new and
popular items in
all formats, and
online resources such as
language learning,
car repair, and
test prep. The one constant in libraries is the human equation: helpful and friendly staff who are able and willing to go beyond Google and Wikipedia to get you what you need.
If you'd like to read these short, well-written, and beautifully illustrated reports yourself, check these links:
Institute of Museum and Library Services ReportOne Day in the Life of New Mexico Libraries How Libraries Stack Up: 2010To see how the Santa Fe Public Library stacks up, check out our Facts & Statistics pages.
In the midst of the unrest and demonstrations in Egypt, and the rallying for a democracy, an example of what the people of Egypt value highly was shown in a simple joining of hands around the Alexandrian Library. According to many reports, as the demonstrators came near the library Egyptian citizens of all ages joined hands and encircled the library. And the library's director, Ismail Serageldin says that in all the protests, not a stone was thrown at the library, and not a pane of glass was broken.
Despite being an avid reader and theater-goer, I discovered a huge gap in my knowledge last year. It started when I checked out 
