Link to May 30 New York Times article.
"Potter Was Still Magical, but Not All Books Rose."
Quote: Publishers sold 3.13 billion books last year, compared with 3.1 billion in 2006, an increase of just 0.9 percent, according to Book Industry Trends 2008, an annual report that analyzes sales in the United States. Higher retail prices helped net revenue increase 4.4 percent, to $37.3 billion, from $35.7 billion.
Public library circulation is Wisconsin is faring somewhat better. (The obvious caveat here is that these numbers include audiovisual materials, but then certain AV formats have already passed their prime. See here for an example. )
Statewide totals from "Wisconsin Public Library Service Data":
2007: not yet available online
2006: 59,630,650 (up 2.9%)
2005: 57,933,246 (up 2.0%)
2004: 56,790,841 (up 3.8%)
However, we can take a look at the LINK library consortium annual statistics:
2007: 11,262,790 (up 3.1%)
2006: 10,919,904 (up 5.6%)
2005: 10,337, 357 (up 4.6%)
2004: 9,881,610 (up 6.9%)
And as of April 30, 2008, LINK circ is up 3.6% compared to the same period in 2007.
So much for the circulation statistics.
I think there are two entwined questions that deserve some discussion.
In these current tough economic times, will libraries experience an increase in use? (In New York State, the answer already seems to be "yes". Link.)
If gas prices continue to increase and eat even more into household budgets, will libraries experience a decline in the number of visits? (And, for example, what impact might this have on our hold shelves?)
I suppose this post can all boil down to the question: How do we effectively promote the value of libraries?
Well, thanks to the great work of the Wisconsin Library Association Foundation, we do have a Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries underway. Please take a careful look if you haven't already.
No matter what the equation, though, library advocacy starts with us.
What are you doing to make libraries essential?
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