Library funding and tech stats: you can help!

September 16, 2010

67% of public libraries report that they’re the only organization in their communities that provides free access to the Internet and computers.

Almost 90% percent of all public libraries offer some kind of technology training to patrons.

67% of public libraries reported that their staff members helped patrons complete online job applications last year.

57% of urban public libraries have fiber optic public access Internet connections. Only 17.7% of rural libraries do.

Only 26.5% of libraries reported having a sufficient number of public workstations for patrons to use throughout the day.

For FY2009, 40% of libraries reported flat or decreased operating budgets. 56.4% reported the same for FY2010, and 62% are anticipating flat or decreased budgets for FY2011. Staff salary and benefits expenditures dropped 43% in FY2010, and collections budgets were cut 47%.

We know all of this because every year the American Library Association’s Office for Research and Statistics and the Center for Library and Information Innovation at the University of Maryland conduct the Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study. It continues the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries, originally begun in 1994 by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure. It’s the big study that major media outlets use to talk about library technology and funding. And the PLFTAS not only gives us a picture of what library technology access and funding are like, it also shows us how that access has changed over time. For example, in 2006 only 36.7% of libraries offered free WiFi; now 82.2% do.

If you’re interested in learning more about this picture of nationwide library funding and technology service, check out the executive summary for PLFTAS 2009-2010, the technology-specific summary, and the funding summary. They’ve also made available data for each state, which lets me report to you things like the way libraries in my new home, Connecticut, have higher operating expenditures per capita ($42.13) compared to the US average ($35.63–that’s right, your library provides you everything it does for the price of about one hardback book per person), but that they saw a greater decrease in hours (20.7%) than average (14.5%). I can also tell you that while libraries in my previous home, Indiana, are less likely to provide WiFi to patrons than Connecticut libraries (79.8% versus 92.7%), they’re more likely to be the sole provider of free access to computers and the Internet in their community than Connecticut libraries (79.7% versus 60.1%). The ALA also has a blog, Libraries Connect Communities, that discusses results of the survey.

Anyway, I apparently really like poking around in these reports and digging up interesting data just for fun, but I also think using the information we get from these reports is essential to making a good case for libraries in our communities. By using this data, we can show people what it is that libraries do and the impact we have on people in our communities. We provide Internet access and technology training and assistance with e-government websites and we’re doing it with less and less money. The results from the PLFTAS–along with the data collected by the Institute for Museum and Library Services–are the most detailed and long-ranged tools we can use to illustrate what libraries do and why that matters.

The survey for the 2010-2011 PLFTAS is now available. Please make sure someone at your library fills it out, because the more libraries that participate, the better a picture of public library technology access and funding we can paint.

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