Attachment_7_-_PLS_FY2011_Report_narrative.pdf

Public Libraries in the United States Survey

FISCAL YEAR 2011

June 2014

Project Teams

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation

Justin Grimes C. Arturo Manjarrez

Kim A. Miller Timothy Owens

Deanne W. Swan Rodney D. Vese, Jr.

U.S. Census Bureau J. Andrea Arroyo

Terri Craig Suzanne Dorinski Michael Freeman

Natasha Isaac Patricia O’Shea Regina Padgett Peter Schilling Jennifer Scotto

Institute of Museum and Library Services Susan H. Hildreth, Director

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. Our mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. Our grant making, policy development, and research help libraries and museums deliver valuable services that make it possible for communities and individuals to thrive.

To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

As part of its mission, IMLS conducts policy research, analysis, and data collection to extend and improve the na-tion’s museum, library, and information services. IMLS research activities are conducted in ongoing collaboration with state library administrative agencies; national, state, and regional library and museum organizations; and other relevant agencies and organizations. IMLS research activities are designed to provide consistent, reliable, complete, and accurate indicators of the status and trends in library and museum services; and to report timely, useful, and high-quality data to Congress, the states, other policymakers, practitioners, data users, and the general public.

Contact Information Institute of Museum and Library Services

1800 M Street NW, 9th Floor Washington, DC 20036-5802

202-653-IMLS (4657)

www.imls.gov

For questions or comments about library statistics, contact: LibraryStats@imls.gov.

For questions or comments about IMLS planning, research, and evaluation, contact: OPRE@imls.gov.

Printed June 2014 in the United States of America.

This publication is available online at www.imls.gov/PLS.

IMLS will provide an audio recording of this publication upon request.

Cover Photos Left: The Omaha Public Library’s Florence Branch Library and Recreation Center hosts a Veterans Day ceremony, photo by Erin O’Brien. Middle: The Summer Reading Kickoff festival at Virginia’s Chesterfield County Public Library.

Right: Washington’s King County Library System, photo by Patrick Bennet

Citation Swan, D. W., Grimes, J., Owens, T., Miller, K., Arroyo, J., Craig, T., Dorinski, S., Freeman, M., Isaac, N., O’Shea, P., Padgett, R., Schil-ling, P.& Scotto, J. (2014). Public Libraries in the United States Survey: Fiscal Year 2011 (IMLS-2014-PLS-01). Institute of Museum and Library Services. Washington, DC.

Unless specifically noted, all information contained herein is in the public domain and may be used and reprinted without special permission. Citation of this source is required.

aPublic Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

Contents

Introduction

List of Figures

Part One: Public Libraries in the United States, Fiscal Year 2011

National Level Data and Trends

Part Two: Public Library Indicators

Section 1 . Use of Public Library Services Indicator 1. Visitation per Capita Indicator 2. Circulation per Capita Indicator 3. Program Attendance per Capita Indicator 4. Use of Public-Access Internet Computer per Capita Indicator 5. Reference Transactions per Capita

Section 2 . Financial Health of Public Libraries Indicator 6. Revenue per Capita Indicator 7. Operating Expenditure per Capita

Section 3 . Public Library Resources Indicator 8. Collection Materials per Capita Indicator 9. Programs per Capita Indicator 10. Public Access Computers per Capita

Section 4 . Public Library Staffing Indicator 11. Staffing per Capita Indicator 12. Librarians per Capita Indicator 13. Percent of Librarians with ALA-Accredited MLS

Public Libraries Survey: Appendix Appendix A. About the Public Libraries Survey Appendix B. Technical Notes Appendix C. Estimates for Multilevel Models

1Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

Introduction

Public libraries provide learning and information resources for individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit organizations . In their role as community anchor institutions, they create opportunities for people of all ages through access to collections and technol-ogy . Public libraries support community improvement by providing programming that addresses the health, education, and workforce development needs of local residents . Libraries are places where people can gain assistance with research and information needs from knowledgeable library staff . In communities across the nation, local public libraries complement commercial development activity and provide attractive neighbor-hood amenities in residential settings .

The Public Libraries in the United States Survey (PLS) examines when, where, and how library services are changing to meet the needs of the public . These data, supplied annually by more than 97 .0 percent of public libraries across the country, provide information that policymakers and practitioners can use to make informed decisions about the support and strategic management of libraries .

This report has three parts: Public Libraries in the Unit-ed States, Public Library Indicators, and State Profiles .

Part One: Public Libraries in the United States provides a national-level analysis that aggregates data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia to provide national estimates and trends . This year, for the first time, we also used statistical modeling to examine the relationship between investment in and use of public libraries . In addition, we examined whether the rela-tionship we observed between investment and use in individual libraries was consistent for all libraries . In most cases, we found that when investment increases, use increases, and when investment decreases, use decreases .

Part Two: Public Library Indicators was introduced in the FY 2010 report . The indicators provide an overall level of performance for key metrics and serve as a gauge to evaluate important changes in public library use, services, and resources . Indicators are calcu-lated as per-capita estimates, so they provide a way to compare performance across libraries . Results for each indicator are also broken out for examination at the region, state, and local levels .

Part Three: State Profiles (online only) provides public library statistics for individual states, including each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico . The profiles contrast public library statistics at the state level to corresponding regional and national statistics . The state profiles are available online at www .imls .gov/PLS2011 .

Data and Analysis

The PLS is a universe survey, which means that in-formation is collected from all public libraries in the United States . When information is available from an entire population, estimates are made by summing units to the population or subpopulation . In the present report, national estimates are aggregate totals based on summing data across all public libraries to the national level . For estimates based on subpopulations, such as state, region, or locale, data are summed up to the level of the subpopulation .

2 Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

FISCAL YEAR 2011Introduction

A public library is established under state laws or regu-lations to serve a community, district, or region . In this document, we report only on public libraries that meet all criteria in the definition of a public library developed by the Federal-State Cooperative System (FSCS) . Under this definition, a public library provides, at a minimum, the following:

• An organized collection of printed or other library materials, or a combination thereof;

• Paid staff;

• An established schedule in which services of the staff are available to the public;

• Facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule; and

• Supported in whole or in part with public funds .

A community may have only one public library or a public library system, which may have a central library and multiple branches or bookmobiles . Any reference to a public library in this report refers to the administra-tive entity,1 which may be a single-outlet library or a multiple-branch library system . References to outlets refer to central libraries, branch libraries, and bookmo-biles .

In this report, we examine trends across time and across subgroups . In some cases, it might appear that one estimate is larger than another . However, a test may reveal that the apparent difference is not a statistical difference . In cases where there is no statistical dif-ference, the difference is not reported as such . In the analyses of the data for this report, we used a variety of statistical tests, including analyses of variance, correla-tion, and multilevel modeling to examine change over time . Significance was set at an alpha level of .01 .

All calculations in the PLS report are based on un-rounded estimates . At times, the reader may find a cal-culation, such as a percentage change, is not identical to the calculation obtained by using the rounded values shown in the report or supplemental tables .

1 In the PLS, an administrative entity is defined as the agency that is legally estab-lished under local or state law to provide public library service to the population of a local jurisdiction .

3Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

List of Figures

Part One: Public Libraries in the United States, Fiscal Year 2011

National Level Data and Trends Figure A: Public Library Outlets in the United States, FY 2011 Figure B: Total Operating Revenue and Expenditures, FY 2002–2011 (in Constant 2011 Dollars) Figure C: The Effect of Investments on Public Library Use

Part Two: Public Library Indicators

Section 1 . Use of Public Library Services Indicator 1. Visitation per Capita

Figure 1-1: Visitation per Capita by Population Size of Legal Service Area, FY 2002–2011 Figure 1-2: Visitation per Capita by State, FY 2011

Indicator 2. Circulation per Capita Figure 2-1: Circulation per Capita by Locality, FY 2008–2011 Figure 2-2: Circulation per Capita by State, FY 2011

Indicator 3. Program Attendance per Capita (per 1,000) Figure 3-1: Total Program Attendance per 1,000 People by Population Size of Library Service Area, FY 2004–2011

Figure 3-2: Total Program Attendance per 1,000 People by State, FY 2011

Indicator 4. Use of Public-Access Internet Computer per Capita Figure 4-1: User Sessions of Public Access Computers per Capita by Population Size of Legal Service Area, FY 2006–2011

Figure 4-2: Change in PC User Sessions per Capita by State, FY 2010–2011

Indicator 5. Reference Transactions per Capita Figure 5-1: Reference Transactions per Capita by Locality, FY 2008–2011 Figure 5-2: Change in Reference Transactions per Capita by State, FY 2010–2011

Section 2 . Financial Health of Public Libraries Indicator 6. Revenue per Capita

Figure 6-1: Operating Revenue per Capita by Population Size of Library Service Area, FY 2002–2011 (in Constant 2011 Dollars)

Figure 6-2: Percentage of Operating Revenue per Capita by Source, FY 2002–2011 Table 6-1: Revenue per Capita by Source, FY 2002 - 2011 (in Constant 2011 Dollars) Figure 6-3: Operating Revenue per Capita by State, FY 2011

4 Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

Indicator 7. Operating Expenditure per Capita Figure 7-1: Expenditures per Capita by Locality, FY 2008–2011 (in Constant 2011 Dollars) Figure 7-2: Operating Expenditures per Capita by Category, FY 2002–2011 (in Constant 2011 Dollars) Figure 7-3: Proportion of Operating Expenditures by Expenditure Type, FY 2011 Figure 7-4: Expenditure per Capita by State, FY 2011

Section 3 . Public Library Resources Indicator 8. Collection Materials per Capita

Figure 8-1: Total Collection per 1,000 People by Population Size of Library Service Area, FY 2002–2011 Table 8-1: Changes in Materials per 1,000 People by Type, FY 2010–2011 Table 8-2: Collection Materials per 1,000 by Locality, FY 2008–2011 Figure 8-2: Total Collection Materials per 1,000 People by Material Type, FY 2002–2011 Table 8-3: Distribution of Electronic Materials Expenditures by Public Library by Locality, FY 2011

Indicator 9. Programs per Capita Figure 9-1: Programs Offered per 1,000 People, FY 2004–2011 Figure 9-2: Total Programs Offered per 1,000 People by Locality, FY 2008–2011

Indicator 10. Public Access Computers per Capita (5,000) Figure 10-1: Public Access Computer per 5,000 by Locality, FY 2008–2011 Figure 10-2: Public Access Computers per 5,000 People by State, FY 2011

Section 4 . Public Library Staffing Indicator 11. Staffing per Capita

Table 11-1: Staffing (FTEs) per 25,000 People by Locality, FY 2008–2011 Figure 11-1: Number of FTE staff per 25,000 people, FY 2002–2011

Indicator 12. Librarians per Capita Figure 12-1: Librarians per 25,000 People by Population Size, FY 2002–2011 Figure 12-2: Librarians per 25,000 People by State, FY 2011

Indicator 13. Percent of Librarians with ALA-Accredited MLS Figure 13-1: Percentage of ALA-Accredited MLS Librarians to All Librarians by Locality, FY 2008–2011 Table 13-1: Public Libraries with an ALA-Accredited MLS Librarian on Staff by Locality Figure 13-2: Percentage of Libraries with ALA-Accredited MLS Librarians by State, FY 2011

Public Libraries Survey: Appendix Appendix A . About the Public Libraries Survey Appendix B . Technical Notes

Table B-1-1: Urban-Centric Locale Categories Table B-1-2: Regional Designations Used in the PLS, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Figure B-1-1: Locale Map: Rural, Town, Suburban and City Locales in the United States, FY 2012 Table B-3-1: Reporting Periods of Public Libraries, FY 2011 Table B-3-2 . States with Public Libraries with Overlapping Service Areas, FY 2011

Appendix C . Estimates for Multilevel Models Table C-1: Estimates for Change in Physical Visitation to Public Libraries Table C-2: Estimates for Change in Total Circulation of Materials Table C-3: Estimates for Change in the Uses of Public-Access Computers Table C-4: Estimates for Change in Attendance at Library Programs

5Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

National Level Data and Trends

Part One: Public Libraries in the United States

6 Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

Over the past two decades, public library services have experienced constant change . Communities grow, tech-nologies get faster, and people expect their local service providers to keep pace . The demand for print books is shifting, with e-books capturing more market share every day . Public libraries must continue to change to meet the needs of the communities they serve . Just a decade ago, people needed access to computer termi-nals . In FY 2011, the ubiquity of smartphones and tab-lets has shifted these needs to broadband access and e-books . Despite all of these changes, public libraries have remained uniquely positioned to meet the public’s information needs for years to come .

In addition to keeping pace with changes in culture and technology, libraries continue to address a core set of informal learning functions in their communities .

Public libraries promote reading, provide access to in-formation, and serve as anchors for their communities .

Libraries are the first community institutions to provide a child with learning resources, the first and largest homework help center in the community, and often first responders in times of personal crisis or natural disasters, providing a safe place and access to govern-ment resources . Libraries deliver access to information and bridge the digital divide . By helping people gain skills and find jobs, they serve as an economic engine .

In a world where there are multiple demands on the public attention, from movies and video games to social networking, the library serves as a dynamic community center where people can gather together and discover new things about the world in which they live .

Across the nation, public libraries are important community-based institutions that provide valuable resources and services to the public . In fiscal year 2011 (FY 2011), there were 8,956 public libraries in the United States1 (Figure 1), more public librar-ies than there are in any other country in the world .

Public libraries provided access to information and resources through 17,110 branches and bookmobiles .

Collectively, they served most Americans, with 299 .9 million people living within a library service area, or 95 .3 percent of the US population . This translates to approximately 3 .0 public libraries and 5 .7 outlets for every 100,000 people .

Public libraries are found in almost every community across the country . Almost half of the public libraries in the United States (46 .8 percent) are located in rural

1 Data reported here are based on values reported from the 50 states and the District of Columbia . Data from the outlying territories are available in the PLS data file .

areas . In FY 2011, there were 483 public libraries in cities, 2,058 in suburban areas, 2,225 in towns, and 4,190 in rural areas . Most public libraries (76 .6 per-cent) served a population area of fewer than 25,000 .2 Only 6 .1 percent of libraries had a service area of 100,000 people or more .

In this analysis, we looked at public libraries as a group and as individual entities . First, we described several measures of library use and investment in aggregated form, including how these measures have changed over time . After the measures were described, we examined the relationship between investments and use . To do this, we used multilevel growth modeling, which esti-mates patterns in the relationships between measures of public library investment and use .

There are many indicators for the use of public library resources and services . In this report, we focused on four metrics of library use: visitation, circulation, pro-gram attendance, and uses of public-access computers .

For public library investments, we have examined rev-enue and expenditures . In addition, we have included services and resources, which show more specifically how expenditures have been directed toward meeting community needs . The resources reported here parallel the indicators of use: staff size, collection size, number of programs, and number of public-access comput-ers . Each of these—use and investments alike—are described in aggregate to provide a national estimate, in order to answer how many visits there were to public libraries across the U .S . We also provided information about how much these estimates have changed from previous years .

Public Library Use

Visits

In FY 2011, there were 1 .52 billion visits to public libraries across the United States – the equivalent of over 4 .2 million daily visits! Although this is a 10-year increase of 23 .0 percent, recent years have seen a decrease in physical visitation . In-person visitation to public libraries has experienced a 2-year decrease of 3 .9 percent the first decline in 10 years . When looking at current visitation patterns, it is important to inter-pret with caution . Although the PLS collects data on in-person visits to public libraries, virtual visitation is

2 For this report, the categorization of public libraries by size used the legal service area population (POPU_LSA) . In order to calculate aggregated statistics, such as visitation per capita, the unduplicated population of the legal service area (POPU_UND) was used to prevent double counting across libraries which might have overlapping service areas . When using the unduplicated population to clas-sify library size, 77 .1 percent of libraries served fewer than 25,000 people .

National Level Data and Trends

7Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

FISCAL YEAR 2011National Level Data and Trends not included . Like retailers and other businesses, public libraries are meeting the demands of their users by increasing their virtual resources and services .3

Circulation

Public libraries have varied collections they share with the public, including print books, audio books, DVDs, and e-books . Circulation is the combined number of materials that are checked out for use . Public libraries circulated 2 .44 billion materials in FY 2011, one-third of which (34 .5 percent) were children’s materials . This represents a 10-year increase of 29 .0 percent . There were 1 .6 materials circulated for each visit .

3 Zickuhr, K ., Rainie, L ., & Purcell, K . (2013) . Library services in the digital age.

Report of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project . Washing-ton, DC .

Program Attendance

Libraries also serve as learning spaces in their local communities, where people come together for a variety of activities . People go to public libraries for computer training, homework help, speaker series, story hour, and more . There were over 89 .0 million attendees4 who participated in library programs in FY 2011, an 8-year increase of 32 .3 percent .5 Most attendees (70 .0 per-cent) who participated in a library program were there for children’s programming . Per capita attendance has increased by 24 .7 percent since FY 2004, with 296 .8 attendees per 1,000 people . Aggregated across all public libraries, average attendance was 23 .4 attendees per program .6

4 The number of attendees is not an accounting of individual people, but rather may include multiple incidences of people who participated in more than one program

5 The PLS first collected data on total number of programs and attendance at all public library programs in FY 2004 .

6 This is based on over 3 .8 million programs offered across all libraries .

Source: Public Library Survey, FY 2011, Institute of Museum and Library Services .

Figure A: Public Library Outlets in the United States, FY 2011

8 Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

FISCAL YEAR 2011National Level Data and Trends

Public-Access Internet Computer Use Sessions

Access to the Internet is one of the many valuable resources public libraries provide . The PLS provides a metric for the use of this resource: the number of uses (sessions) of public-access Internet computers .

Across all libraries, there were 341 .5 million uses of public-access computers at public libraries in FY 2011, a decrease of 7 .2 percent since FY 2006 . There were 223 .88 computer uses per 1,000 visits to the library, a decrease of 7 .4 percent since FY 2006 . Many librar-ies offer broadband, which can be accessed not only through library-provided computer resources, but also through patrons’ personal devices . Although the uses of public-access Internet computers may be decreas-ing, we will explore how to capture the many other ways people use public library wireless access in future surveys .

Investments in Public Libraries

Public Investments allow libraries to provide access to many popular services and resources . Financial invest-ments are made by the public at the local, state, and federal levels . Public libraries direct these revenues to be spent in ways that support their local communities through services and resources . Although services may vary from place to place, most library expenditures are used to provide public resources including the collec-tion of materials for loan, varied programming, digital access, and knowledgeable staff . The PLS collects key measures of investment in public libraries: revenue, operating expenditures, collection size, the number of programs, the number of public-access Internet com-puters, and staff size .

Revenue

The vast majority of public libraries receive part or all of their revenue from public sources, often including money from local, state, and federal government . In FY 2011, the public invested over $11 .4 billion in public libraries, a 10-year increase of 8 .5 percent after adjust-ing for inflation (Figure 2) .7 Most revenue (84 .8 percent) came from local government, with smaller portions originating from state (7 .5 percent) and federal (0 .5 percent) government . This money was used to build collections, including books and e-books; to deliver programming to adults, teens, and children; and to provide Internet-accessible public-access computers . In addition to these resources, revenues for public librar-ies support the library workforce, including librarians, 7 All financial trends reported are adjusted for inflation using a GDP deflator . For more information, see the Technical Notes in the Appendix .

who connect people with critical information, support research skills, and develop rich programming to meet community needs . Revenue streams to public libraries have decreased since the recession, experiencing a 3 .8 percent decrease since FY 2008 . The largest decreases have been seen in state sources of revenue, which exhibited a 3-year decrease of 16 .4 percent .8

Operating Expenditures

Whereas revenue describes the sources of public library funding, operating expenditures show how libraries allocate these funds towards resources and services in order to meet the needs of their communities . Public libraries spent $10 .74 billion in operating expenditures in FY 2011, a 10-year increase of 9 .2 percent after adjusting for inflation . Like revenues, expenditures experienced a post-recessionary decline, showing a 3 .9 percent decrease from FY 2008 . The bulk of public library expenditures (67 .0 percent) went to support the workforce through salaries and benefits . This percent-age has remained relatively stable, with a three-year change of 1 .9 percent . Expenditures on electronic materials were $174 .9 million, an increase of 68 .0 percent since FY 2003 . Electronic materials accounted for 14 .3 percent of expenditures on library collections in FY 2011 .

Public Library Resources

Collections – Number of Items

Librarians and other library staff develop the collections of materials at public libraries to meet the information needs of the people in their communities . Public library collections include both physical and digital materi-als—print books, e-books, CDs, and DVDs . Across mate-rial types9—print and downloadable—public libraries had 948 .9 million items available for public use, an increase of 12 .3 percent since FY 2002 . Although most of these items (83 .4 percent) are print materials, and in particular, books, public libraries have seen decreases each year in the proportion of the overall collection that their print material holdings comprise . In FY 2011, libraries had 35 .0 million e-books available to lend, a one-year increase of 89 .4 percent . E-books comprised 3 .7 percent of the total collection in FY 2011 .

8 Financial analysis of State Library Administrative Agencies shows a decline in state funding . For more information: Swan, D .W ., Grimes, J ., Owens, T ., Miller, K ., & Bauer, L . (2014) . State Library Administrative Agency Survey: Fiscal Year 2012 (IMLS-2014-SLAA-01) . Institute of Museum and Library Services:

Washington, DC .

9 For this metric, we have combined print materials, which includes books, e-books, audio (physical and downloadable) and video (physical and downloadable) .

9Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

Number of Public Programs

Public libraries provide opportunities for learning ex-periences that inspire people throughout their lifetime .

Programs vary from story time for young children to af-terschool homework support and maker spaces for teens and young adults, to digital literacy and job training for adults . Libraries offered 3 .81 million programs in FY 2011, an increase of 46 .7 percent since FY 2004 .

Of all library programming, 60 .5 percent was geared toward children and 8 .8 percent toward young adults .

There were 12 .7 programs offered for every 1,000 people, an 8-year increase of 38 .3 percent .

A core function of public libraries is to make available the resources needed to ensure open access to infor-mation and ideas . In the 21st century, public libraries accomplish this by providing public access to com-puters and the Internet, serving as technology access points for their communities . Public libraries provided 261,413 public-access Internet computers, a 10-year increase of 86 .2 percent . Per capita, libraries provide 4 .4 computers per 1,000 people .

Number of Full-Time Equivalent Staff

Although library materials and computers are valuable resources, one of the most important assets found in public libraries is the knowledgeable library workforce .

Public library services were supported by 137,103 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees on staff in FY 2011, one-third of whom held the position of librarian .

These staff members supported library services at all levels and worked in a wide variety of positions, such as library paraprofessionals who serve as clerks and tech-nicians, as well as employees who support library opera-tions in maintenance, security, IT, and administration .

The recession has had a negative impact on the public library workforce . Public library staff has decreased by 5 .5 percent since FY 2008; the number of librarians fell by 2 .5 percent during the same period .

Summary of National-level Estimates of Public Library Use and Investments

Although research has shown increases in public library use over the past 10 years, in the past few years, there

National Level Data and Trends

Source: Public Library Survey, FY 2002–2011, Institute of Museum and Library Services/National Center for Education Statistics .

$13 .0

$12 .5

$12 .0

$11 .5

$11 .0

$10 .5

$10 .0

$9 .5

$9 .0

$8 .5

$8 .0

Fiscal Year

D ol la rs in

B ill io ns

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Revenue

Expenditures

Figure B: Total Operating Revenue and Expenditures, FY 2002–2011 (in Constant 2011 Dollars)

20032002

10 Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011 has been evidence of decreases in common metrics such as physical visitation . Investments in public librar-ies have shown concomitant decreases, particularly since the recession in 2008 . Decreases in revenue, most significantly at the state level, have been accom-panied by less pronounced decreases in resources and services . In recent years, libraries have found ways to do more with less, continuing to provide valuable servic-es to the community in the face of shrinking budgets .10

We have seen changes over time for these metrics, but we have not yet examined how these different measures relate to one another . Specifically, we do not know how changes in resources affect changes in use . What are the critical elements of public library resources that drive use? Do resources and use fluctuate in the same manner? Are resources interdependent? Although there is widespread belief that resource investment affects use, we know of no other analysis that has explicitly examined this in an empirical manner using existing data . The analysis in this report serves to fill that gap .

To address these questions, we need a different kind of analysis to explore these relationships . In this report, we have used multilevel modeling to identify the sig-nificant predictors that affect the growth or decline in public library use over time .

The Effect of Investment on Public Library Use

Although it is valuable to look at the percent of change in public library use, as we do in the descriptive infor-mation above and in the public library indictors in Part Two of this report, the analysis that follows identifies the factors that influence the growth or decline in use over time . For these analyses, we examined the effect of public investment in libraries and the resources provided by public libraries on the use by patrons11 .

We tested the model of the effect of investment on use (Figure 3) . To do this, we estimated four multi-level growth models, one for each of the metrics of use described above: visitation, circulation, program attendance, and computer use . For each model, we determined which measures of public library invest-ments are significant predictors of use .

For the analysis, we no longer focus on the aggregated estimate of the national picture, but rather examine

10 Swan, D .W ., Grimes, J ., Owens, T ., Vese, Jr ., R .D ., Miller, K ., Arroyo, J ., Craig, T ., Dorinski, S ., Freeman, M ., Isaac, N ., O’Shea, P ., Scotto, J . (2013) . Public Libraries Survey: Fiscal Year 2010 (IMLS-2013-PLS-01) . Institute of Museum and Library Services: Washington, DC .

11 We used multilevel models to analyze trends and relationships between public library investments and use . The level of significance for fixed and random effects was set at α = .01 . For the public library use we examined: visitation, circulation, program attendance, and uses of public access computers . More information on these models, including the estimates for each model and an explanation of the technique, can be found in Appendix C .

This is the first analysis that shows a direct relationship between library investment and use . It also shows that this relationship persists over time . Findings include:

• Increases in book and e-book volume, programs, public-access computers, and staffing were associated with increased levels of visitation.

• Increases in collections and programs were related to increases in circulation.

• Increases in the number of public-access Internet computers were related to increases in computer use.

• Increases in programs and staffing were related to higher levels of program attendance.

the relationship of investments on use for individual libraries . For each library, we estimated a separate trajectory of how use has changed over time . Then we examined how different investments relate to changes in use at the level of the individual library . For example, although visitation has shown an overall increase with a recent decrease at the aggregate level, this pattern may be different for different libraries . Thus, some libraries may have experienced decreases prior to the recession, while other libraries have seen no decline and continue to report increasing visitation numbers . In other words, what happens at the national level, aggregated across all libraries, may obscure the experience of individual libraries throughout the nation . Multilevel growth mod-eling provides a method for modeling the change that occurs for each library, thereby capturing the variation of library use .

We focused on four key metrics of public library use:

physical visitation to public libraries, circulation of ma-terials, program attendance, and uses of public-access computers . We also focused on the effect of specific investments on use, including revenue, the number of books and other print materials available for use, the number of e-books available, the total number of pro-grams offered, the number of publicly-available Internet computers, and the number of staff12 at the library .

12 All numbers referring to staff, including number of staff and librarians, are based on full-time equivalent (FTE) . One FTE is based on a 40-hour work week . For ex-ample, if two people each work 20-hour per week, this is equivalent to 1 .0 FTE .

11Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011 crease of the same magnitude in visitation . Like visita-tion, each of these metrics of investment changes over time . Although the specific relationship may change for individual libraries, on average, these positive effects on library visitation persist across time .

In contrast to other investments, the amount libraries spent on electronic materials was a significant nega-tive predictor, indicating that the more a library spent on electronic materials, such as e-books, the lower the physical visitation . It is important to remember that this is a measure of physical visitation . With the increased proliferation of digital media and devices, more and more people are beginning to visit their public libraries not only in person, but also virtually . As libraries invest more money in building their electronic collections, patrons are able to complete whole transactions—from finding, checking out, and returning an e-book to paying overdue fines, without setting foot in a physical build-ing . By serving the public need for increased access to digital materials, libraries may see a decrease in physical visitation that does not fully reflect the many different ways patrons use library services . Because the PLS does not collect information on virtual visitation, we cannot explore this possible explanation with the current data .

Circulation

Circulation is another important metric for public library usage . In the PLS, circulation measures the total num-ber of materials of all formats that have been checked out for use outside the library . In FY 2011, libraries circulated 2 .4 billion materials, 34 .5 percent of which were children’s materials . There was a significant increase in circulation at public libraries over the past 10 years .

To examine the effect of investments on circulation, we tested seven predictors: visitation, revenue, book volume, e-book volume, the number of public-access Internet computers, the number of programs offered, and the number of staff . We also examined how circula-tion changed over time .

Circulation was positively related to all seven of the predictors examined . As the investment in each of these resources increased, so did circulation . For every 100 e-books available, 345 additional items circulated .

Program offerings also had a positive effect . For each additional program offered, there was an increase of 61 .2 items circulated .

Visitation

One of the strongest indicators of the use of public li-braries is visitation . The Public Libraries Survey (PLS) measures visitation as a count of the total number of people who physically entered a library during a given year . In FY 2011, there were 1 .52 billion visits to public libraries . Although this is a 10-year increase of 23 .0 percent, recent years have seen a decrease in physical visitation . After a peak in FY 2008, there has been a significant decline in physical visitation to public libraries .

To examine the relationship of investments on visita-tion, we tested eight different investments as predic-tors: revenue, book volume, e-book volume, number of public-access Internet computers, number of programs offered, number of staff FTEs, expenditures on elec-tronic materials, and hours open . In addition, we also examined the effect of time—not only how visitation changed over time, but also how the relationship of the investments on visitation changed . In addition to time, all eight investment metrics were significantly related to public library visitation .

Although the post-recessionary downturn in visitation was significant, much of this change can be explained by the changes in libraries’ resources and investments .

With the exception of expenditures on electronic materials, all of the library investments examined had a positive effect on visitation . While some resources— public-access computers, e-books, and the number of programs— have continued to increase in availability, other critical resources, such as staffing and rev-enue, have declined . For example, for each additional full-time position (FTE) on staff, a library will see, on average, a 3371 .8 increase in visits for any given year .

Similarly, with each decrease in staff, there was a de-

National Level Data and Trends

Investments

Collections, Programs, Computers

Public Library Use

Figure C: The Effect of Investments on Public Library Use

12 Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

Uses of Public-Access Computers

Internet computer access is one of the many valuable resources public libraries provide . The PLS provides a metric for the use of this specific resource: the number of uses of public-access Internet computers .

Across all libraries, there were 341 .5 million uses of public-access computers at public libraries in FY 2011, a decrease of 7 .2 percent since FY 2006 .13 Adjusting separately for service population and visita-tion, public libraries reported 1 .1 PC uses per capita and 223 .9 PC uses per 1,000 visits .

For use of public-access Internet computers, in ad-dition to change over time, we examined the effect of five predictors: visitation, revenue, the number of public-access Internet computers, the number of programs offered, and the number of staff . Only three of the investment predictors were significantly related to public-access Internet computer use .

Use of public-access Internet computers at public libraries was predicted by the number of public-access Internet computers, library visits, and total number of library staff . As each of these investments increased, so did PC usage . Similarly, as these re-sources decreased, so did computer use . It is critical to keep in mind the difference between the aggre-gated national estimate, which is decreasing, and the relationships that are being examined in a multilevel model . Although the national estimate is decreasing, in some libraries the use of public-access Internet computers has been increasing . Multilevel modeling allows us not only to see and explicitly examine these differences across libraries, but also shows how these differences in usage trends are related to resource investments .

Use of public-access computers implies that people are at the library to use them, which means that visitation is a necessary predictor of computer use .

For every 100 visitors, there was a 13 .6 increase in computer uses . Similarly, the number of computers is also positively related to their use—as the availabil-ity increases, so does their use . For every additional public-access Internet computer terminal avail-able, there was an increase of 474 uses . As digital information resources have increased and computing devices have become ubiquitous, library professionals have kept pace . People come to public libraries not only to use computers, but to learn more about how to use their devices and to improve their information

13 FY 2006 was the first year this metric was collected on the PLS .

search skills . For each FTE staff member, there was a 374 user session increase in computer use .

As access to these resources change over time, so does their use . Even though the number of user sessions has been decreasing in many libraries, the positive relationship between resources and use is still present . Furthermore, even as smartphones and other portable digital devices proliferate, increased availability of public-access computers leads to increased use .

Attendance at Library Programs

Public libraries offer a wide variety of programs for audiences of all ages . Library programs include digi-tal literacy classes, tax assistance, parenting work-shops, career coaching, e-book workshops and more .

These programs may be taught by library staff, local volunteers, or by staff from local community organiza-tions or public agencies . In FY 2011, public libraries offered 3 .8 million programs, or 10,400 programs a day, every day of the year . This figure represents a 7-year increase of 46 .7 percent . There were 89 .0 million attendees at library programs in FY 2011, an increase of 32 .3 percent since FY 2004 . Most (60 .5 percent) of these programs, such as summer reading and afterschool programs were targeted to children

Attendance at library programs was examined for change over the eight years for which we have data, FY 2004 to 2011 . In addition to the change over time, we examined four investments as predictors of attendance: revenue, number of programs of-fered, number of public-access Internet computers, and number of staff . All of the predictors examined were significant .

Programs continue to be a popular service of pub-lic libraries, with a significant increase in program attendance over time . The more programs a library offered, the more attendees came to those programs .

For every additional program, there was an average increase of 10 attendees . Increases in other resource investments—computers and staffing—also predicted an increase in program attendance . Computer-based classes are one of many programs offered at libraries .

For each additional computer, there was an increase in program attendance of 52 .4 people . Programs are often staff-intensive investments, and the model suggests that they are a good investment . Beyond the average attendance, each additional staff person is related to an increase of 95 .2 in program attendance .

13Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011

Summary

In this section, we examined whether the level of investments affected the use of public library ser-vices and resources . Using multilevel growth models, we examined not only whether there is an effect of investment on use, but also whether this relationship persists over time . For each of the four metrics of pub-lic library use—visitation, circulation, uses of public-access computers, and program attendance—we found that for most investments there was a positive effect .

Revenue was a positive predictor for visitation, circula-tion, and program attendance . As revenue increases, so do these metrics of use . However, in recent years we have seen the converse: cuts in revenue have led to decreases in visitation, circulation, and attendance .

Although revenue is an important piece of the puzzle, it is by no means the only investment that explains changes in library use . Visitation is affected by the many resources that illustrate how people use the library—collections, programs, and Internet access .

Despite shrinking budgets, these resources continue to drive traffic to public libraries .

Conclusion

Over the past 10 years, use of public libraries has increased . Visitation has increased overall, even though recent years have shown a decrease in physical visits . Circulation and program attendance have also increased . During this time, we have also seen 10-year increases in many library investments, including revenue, collection size, the number of public-access computers, and the number of programs . However, each of these investments has experienced decreases in recent years—particularly revenue .

More importantly, this report provides empirical evi-dence of the strong relationship between the invest-ments made in public libraries and the use of public library resources and services . We examined not only how public library use has changed over the past 10 years, but how it changed in relation to changes in investments in public libraries over the same time . We found that as investments, such as revenue, staffing, and programs, increased, so did critical use measures, such as visitation and circulation . In the same way, as investments were reduced, mostly in reaction to post-recessionary budgetary reductions, we saw decreases in library use . Another important finding is that even though investments might have declined, any de-creases in use did not drop by the same magnitude .

People continue to use their local public libraries—for access to books and information and for gathering as a community .

This is the first analysis that shows the direct relation-ship between investment and use . For example, holding constant the effects of time and revenue, resources such as collections and programs have a positive effect on library visitation . Furthermore, it shows that this relationship of investment on use persists over time .

Because we were able to employ advanced analytic techniques, we could see each of these relationships as they changed over time, and to demonstrate this relationship empirically .

As with any analysis, there are limitations . First, al-though the PLS is a rich dataset of detailed information about all public libraries for 20 years, there are some services that are not captured with the current survey .

In particular, there is not a data element that captures e-visitation . Technology has changed, providing many opportunities . Public libraries have kept pace with these changes, providing access to more e-books and databases to meet the demand of the public . In today’s digital world, it is possible to check out an e-book from the local public library all from the comfort of your own home . Previously, this would have required a physical visit . This creates a limitation for the PLS because, given the current data, we cannot tell whether the de-cline in physical visitation is a true decline or if it is the direct result of increased online and digital services .

A second limitation of this analysis is that is focuses solely on the PLS data . Much more could be learned by incorporating other data, such as information on popu-lation demographics, poverty, and community charac-teristics . The PLS is particularly amenable to this kind of analysis . Since FY 2008, the datasets have been geocoded, providing information on latitude and longi-tude, as well as county identifiers . The merging of other data with the richness of the PLS would open doors to explore questions about the level of library resources as a function of target populations or community need . As much as it is a limitation here, it also presents a ripe opportunity for others in the field .

This report provides 13 indicators, each providing a snapshot of the status of public libraries on use and investments . The national level analysis echoes the findings of the public library indicators . Although there have been declines in recent years, particularly since the recession, these indicators tell a consistent story —people are still using public libraries . Furthermore, 14 Public Libraries Survey | Fiscal Year 2011 the indicators dig a little deeper, looking at variability based on state, population, or geographic differences across libraries .

It is clear is that the public still has a high demand for the resources and services provided by their local public libraries . Taken together, the measures of public library use have shown an increased demand for library servic-es over the past 10 years .