In 1996, there were 8,950 public library jurisdictions in the United States. The five most common types are city, county, non-profit, multi-jurisdictional, and special district (see Table 1 in full report).
As library managers and decision-makers struggle to make ends meet as well as fulfill the needs of their customers, many wonder: On the average, which of these public library types is the best funded? This question is not easy to address, because of the idiosyncrasies of public library financing and statistics about it.
Click the Download Report button at right to continue reading this Fast Facts.