Data on library revenue, expenditures, collections, circulation and other measures for fiscal year 2014 (July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014) are now available on the WSL Wyoming Library Statistics page. A few facts from this year’s stats:
- There were 3.65 million visits to public libraries in FY14 – 6.3 visits for every Wyoming resident.
- Public library circulation was nearly 5 million for the year.
- Wyoming libraries averaged $54.31 in expenditures per capita to provide services. Local government provides 94.1% of library revenue.
- All Wyoming public library systems offer free wifi. This year, the number of wireless sessions provided was counted for the first time. The 11 libraries that were able to provide this data reported, collectively, 126,942 wifi sessions.
- Wyoming libraries put on 11,361 children’s programs, with attendance of 291,431. There were 29,930 children, teens and adults participating in summer reading programs in 2014.
Each year, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) collects these data nationally. Wyoming is typically near the top in terms of per capita library use. In fact, a recent Institute of Museum and Library Services report using FY12 data showed that in that year, Wyoming had the highest per capita attendance for children’s and young adult programs. IMLS data for all states may be found at http://www.imls.gov/research.
Questions about library statistics may be directed to Susan Mark at the Wyoming State Library, susan.mark@wyo.gov or 307-777-5915.