What Is The State of Libraries Today?

 

  

Do libraries mean anything for writers today? Are libraries still needed by an Internet-driven society? Can libraries continue to survive and thrive?  

Yes. yes. Yes.  

Libraries are still a big, vital place for an educated populace to gather.   

Authors should reach out to libraries to speak and sell or donate their books.   

Libraries are still literary hubs where readers come together and serve the community in many ways, from providing job search services and making research documents available, to being a place for parents to find children’s books and for seniors to gather and discuss social issues.  

The library landscape is uneven throughout the country, with states varying greatly on how many libraries are open, their available resources, their usage and attendance, and their financial support.  

In 2019, according to Institute of Museum and Library Services, 1.243 billion visits were made to libraries, which averages out to about four visits per every man, woman, and child in America. Additionally, 227,000,000 visits were made to digital libraries online. On average, seven items, digital or physical, were checked out for every American.  

Out of over 9000 public libraries, NY, IL, TX, Iowa, and PA have the most libraries. Surprisingly, FL has fewer than one-ninth the number of NY libraries, despite being a more populous state. California, with twice the population of NY, has fewer than a quarter the number of libraries. WI and Al have a lot of libraries per capita. Who knew?  

Need to find where the libraries are? Try this resource: http://www.librarydir.org/  

Another good resource is found here:  https://librarytechnology.org/libraries/uspublic/

 

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies." —George R.R. Martin  

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." —Joseph Addison  

"It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish." —S.I. Hayakawa   

Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.