Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey
| Categories | Civic & Social Infrastructure |
|---|---|
| Detail | Public library outlet locations |
| Download Available | yes |
| Geographies | Point |
| Last Updated on PolicyMap | March 2025 |
| Public Edition or Subscriber-only | Public Edition |
| Source | Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and U.S. Census Bureau |
| Years Available | 2022 |
Description:
The Public Libraries Survey (PLS) is conducted annually by the IMLS. The data file includes all public libraries and outlets identified by state library agencies in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the outlying areas of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Library outlet locations include central libraries, branches, bookmobiles, and books-by-mail locations. Points were geocoded by IMLS based on addresses provided by the survey respondent (library administrator), and in some cases were matched to the center point of the postal zip code or zip code division. IMLS was able to locate 99.9% of library outlets on a map.
The reporting period varies among localities for states; however, each public library provided data for a 12-month period. When calculating weekly hours, PolicyMap applied IMLS’ methodology–suppressing values where average hours per week is less than 11 or greater than 130. Refer to the Data File Documentation and User’s Guide for more details.