Books frequently borrowed from a US public library c. 1895 were about 17 years old, compared to under 2 years old for recent UK public library borrowing.
… Read the post popular book publication age decreased greatly since 1895
Roughly speaking, from 1995 to 2008, U.S. research-university students substituted online resources for 50% of their prior university library borrowings. … Read the post students at research universities are borrowing fewer physical items
Robert E. Molyneux has established at the Library Research Service a huge archive of U.S. library data from fiscal year 1987 to fiscal year 2008. The archive also includes a section of hard-to-find library data reports dating back to 1973. The relevant archive page notes: A number of the publications here are the results of … Continue reading Robert E. Molyneux, library data hero
While recent estimates of the share of U.S. adults who have used a public library in the past year range from 47% to 68%, the most credible statistics, in my judgment, are at the bottom of that range. A relatively large survey that the U.S. Census Bureau administered as part of the Current Population Survey … Continue reading what share of U.S. adults have used a public library in the past year?
The number of public library visits per person in public library service areas rose 30% in the U.S. from 1995 to 2008. Circulation per person increased 20% across this period.[1] The share of persons and households that use public libraries increased only slightly if at all.[2] These figures suggest that libraries are adapting well to … Continue reading visits to public libraries trending upwards