The State Library has published an updated document compiling statistics from the FY24 Public Library Annual Survey.
Also known as the “Big Stats Book,” it contains information on income, expenditures, collections, circulation, programs, staff, and more. Each section is arranged by size code, then alphabetically by city. Totals, averages, and percentiles for each size code grouping are included immediately following the alphabetical listings.
Of the 544 public libraries in Iowa, 515 submitted an annual survey for FY24. Only those public libraries that submitted a verified annual survey are included in the report.
Public library statistics are used at the local, regional, state, and national levels. They are used to compare library performance, justify budget requests, track library data over time, assist in planning and evaluation, and provide valuable information for grants and other library programs. All 50 states collect information according to guidelines and definitions established by the Public Library Statistics Cooperative (PLSC).
Notable FY24 Statistics
- In FY24, Iowa public library cardholders totaled 1,749,934. Iowa is ranked 8th in the nation per capita for registered borrowers according to FY21 data (the most recent national data available).
- People made more than 12.6 million visits to Iowa public libraries during FY24, an increase of 6.2% from FY23.
- Iowa public libraries hold more than 85.3 million physical and digital items, including books, magazines, physical audio and video materials, ebooks, audiobooks, digital videos, and more. That’s an average of about 165,000 items per library.
- Iowa libraries circulated nearly 16 million physical items and more than 4.7 million digital items. Physical items were shared between libraries via interlibrary loan over 430,000 times.
- More than 117,000 library programs were offered and attended by 2.2 million people, a 10% increase from FY23.
Access a link to the FY24 Iowa Public Library Statistics publication on the webpage below: