But government support for libraries, and how much community residents use them, varies widely across the country. Gannett News Service analyzed data obtained from the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics for 2002 and 2005 and from individual states for 2006. In some categories, 2005 data was more reliable or complete than information from 2006.
The data shows:
- Visits to libraries nationwide increased roughly 10 percent between 2002 and 2006 to about 1.3 billion.
- The South lags the rest of the country in per-capita visits to libraries, according to the 2006 state numbers. Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee ranked at the bottom. Ohio, Wyoming, Washington, Connecticut and Utah ranked at the top.
- Circulation, which measures how often library visitors check out print or electronic materials, increased nationwide about 9 percent, from 1.66 billion to 1.81 billion, between 2002 and 2006.
- The number of Internet-capable computers soared 38 percent between 2002 and 2006 - from about 137,000 to nearly 190,000.
- Rural states in the Midwest and New England had the highest numbers of Internet-ready computers per capita, according to the 2006 state numbers. Vermont, Kentucky, Iowa, Maine and Indiana were at the top. The District of Columbia, Nevada, Hawaii, California and Delaware were at the bottom.
- Nationally, library spending on day-to-day costs such as staffing and materials was $31.65 per person in 2005. The District of Columbia, and local governments in Ohio and New York topped the list, spending at least $50 per capita. Local governments in Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee spent the least - less than $17.
- In 2005, 42 percent of all circulation in Vermont's public libraries involved children's materials - the highest share in the nation. Mississippi had the lowest percentage, at 26 percent.
- From 1995 to 2005, library spending per person grew by $20 in the District of Columbia and Ohio - the biggest dollar jump nationally. Spending increases were lowest in West Virginia, Hawaii, Mississippi and Georgia. Library spending in those states grew by less than $5 per capita.
