Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Center for an Urban Future Report on New York City's Public Libraries


From the introduction: Far from becoming obsolete, the city’s three public library systems— Brooklyn, Queens and New York, which encompasses the branches in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island—have experienced a 40 percent spike in the number of people attending programs and a 59 percent increase in circulation over the past decade. During that time, 48 different branches citywide have at least doubled annual attendance at programs, ranging from computer literacy classes to workshops on entrepreneurship, while 18 have more than doubled their circulation.

These trends are grounded in the new realities of today’s knowledge economy, where it is difficult to achieve economic success or enjoy a decent quality of life without a range of basic literacy, language and technological skills.

[snip]

This report takes an in-depth look at the role that New York’s public libraries play in the city’s economy and quality of life and examines opportunities for libraries to make even greater contributions in the years ahead

Brooklyn Public Library.  
  • Central Library
  • Business Library
  • 58 neighborhood branches
Queens Library
  • Central Library
  • 59 neighborhood branches
  • 2 family literacy centers

Instructive bar graph on page 5 of report.  (New York City population:  8,244,910 -- est. July 2011)

Here's how Wisconsin compares.  (July 2011 estimated population:  5,711,767)


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