America’s Libraries: How Are We Doing?

The American Library Association has released another report on the State of America’s Libraries. The title page of the 2010 report carries this tagline: “Recession drives more Americans to libraries in search of employment resources; but funding lags demand.” For many in the library business, this is an affirmation of what we have been experiencing – usage is up, while funding is down. Alas, it’s a perverse correlation that is familiar to librarians, whether public, school, or academic. Despite the bleak financial assessment, the report also compiled research from multiple sources that demonstrates how important our services are to so many people and how well libraries have responded to the needs of our constituents. Some highlights include:

• About 219 million people believe the public library improves the quality of life in their community.
• More than 96% percent of Americans feel that school libraries are an essential part of the educational experience.
• Nine out of 10 college students who were surveyed used the library’s online scholarly databases for their coursework.
• In a January 2010 poll, 65% of the respondents indicated they had used their public library in the past year, which represents over 151 million people.

Get the details at http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/mediapresscenter/americaslibraries/index.cfm