Empty and Antiquated?

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 Report

One Day in the Life of New Mexico Libraries

How Libraries Stack Up: 2010

To see how the Santa Fe Public Library stacks up, check out our Facts & Statistics pages.