The 2017 Public Library Data Service Report: Characteristics and Trends

 

The 2017 Public Library Data Service Report: Characteristics and Trends

“Summary

The following summary of key findings is based primarily on analysis of results from the cohort of continuously reporting libraries:

  • Over the last five years library programs per capita have grown at a rate (6.3 percent) twice the decrease in circulation per capita (-3.0 percent).
  • Since 2012, staff expenditures (representing over 67 percent of operating expenditures) increased 7.05 percent while the number of staff/capita decreased -1.5 percent.
  • Electronic circulation is growing steadily at a rate of 11.7 percent, but not sufficiently to off set the decline in physical materials circulation.
  • Consortial sharing relationships for electronic materials significantly increased Holdings for libraries with a Population of Legal Service Area <100,000.
  • Declines in circulation may in part be a result of changes in measurement over time (differences in circulation policies especially for electronic materials) and due to an overall decline in library usage that mirrors the de- cline in unemployment rates (that have dropped steadily since 2011), reductions in usage of CD/DVD materials and a slowing uptake in electronic usage.
  • While expenditure on CD/DVD materials ($2.26/capita) decreased $0.02 in FY2016 there was a decline in share (-4.08 percent) of overall circulation.”