Public Library Statistics for the United States about 1856

Supporting data for Galbi, “Book Circulation Per U.S. Public Library User Since 1856.”

Source: Manual of public libraries, institutions, and societies, in the United States, and British provinces of North America. By William J. Rhees, chief clerk of the Smithsonian Institution.  (Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott & co., 1859).

Table 1 Public Library Statistics about 1856
State	Libraries (size unknown)	Libraries (size known)	Volumes (in libraries of known size)	Volumes Lent per Library	Persons Borrowing per Library
Alabama	35	12	36,529	559	95
Arkansas	16	1	1,000
California	13	32	70,428	3,124
Connecticut	62	24	145,058	4,852	161
Delaware	5	10	31,085	3,250	118
Florida	11	4	9,687
Georgia	43	22	64,236	346	91
Illinois	55	35	58,501	2,423	238
Indiana	56	33	81,851	2,677	114
Iowa	24	8	11,431	500
Kentucky	49	38	112,293	4,680	491
Louisiana	25	15	58,680	200
Maine	74	40	114,112	3,316	159
Maryland	15	36	194,671	13,436	1,465
Massachusetts	175	119	632,800	8,772	861
Michigan	81	21	35,986	1,570	145
Minnesota	14	3	5,700
Mississippi	32	12	25,323
Missouri	38	24	69,509	6,215	442
New Hampshire	41	42	84,915	9,820	300
New Jersey	31	24	89,520	5,220	244
New York	119	284	750,421	12,232	443
North Carolina	27	11	36,344	719	78
Ohio	58	82	212,642	4,225	294
Pennsylvania	209	110	467,716	5,918	408
Rhode Island	17	64	154,842	7,815	791
South Carolina	32	20	106,080	1,670	110
Tennessee	48	27	94,251	616	86
Texas	42	4	3,050	300
Vermont	47	13	32,800	631	94
Virginia	40	47	142,767	2,406	244
Wisconsin	25	42	59,600	1,629	126
District of Columbia	16	31	272,835
Kansas	3	1	7,000
Nebraska	4	1	800
New Mexico	1
Oregon	10	4	2,051
Washington	2	2	4,352
Total	1,595	1,298	4,280,866
Source: Rhees (1859), combined from tables, pp. xxvi, xxviii.

Table 2 Universe of U.S. Public Libraries about 1856
Category	Number	Volumes	Average Volumes per Library
libraries with volumes reported	1,297	4,220,686	3,254
libraries with volumes estimates	1,593	500,000	314
libraries of common schools	18,000	2,000,000	111
libraries of Sunday schools	30,000	6,000,000	200
sum	50,890	12,720,686	250
Source: Rhees (1989), p. xxviii, last column calculated.

The general summary in Table 2 appears to be based on the individual library data, which is generally from about 1856, plus estimates for non-reporting libraries, common schools, and Sunday schools.  It is entitled, however, “General Summary, 1859.”

The term “public library” in this source includes state and city libraries, social libraries, college libraries, academies and professional schools libraries, historical, scientific, and agricultural libraries, and students libraries.  Students’ libraries do not include libraries for children in “common schools,” which were local publicly funded schools typically for students ages 6 to 14. 

The number of libraries reporting average volumes lent and average persons borrowing is not specified in the summary table.  Data for the individual libraries is given in the book, but within a brief description of each library.

The table listing average volumes lent annually and average number of persons borrowing includes an “average” summary line giving 5,856 and 416 for these headings, respectively.  These numbers differ from the average of the state average figures (3,897 and 317).  The reported “average” for volumes lent annually and persons borrowing is probably an average across reporting libraries for the relevant variable.   These figures imply 14.1 books lent per borrower per year.  The set of libraries reporting volumes lent differs from the set of libraries reporting numbers of borrowers.  Libraries reporting lending, but not borrowers, in California, Iowa, Louisiana, and Texas lent considerably fewer books than the average reporting library.  If this difference reflects a general pattern, then calculated books lent per borrower is biased downward.

The weighted averages (using as weights the number of libraries reporting volumes) for states reporting average number of persons borrowing are 6,876 and 425.  These imply 16.2 books lent per borrower.  This figure is a library-weighted average, not a borrower-population weighted average.  In addition, this figure does not account for differences in the sets of reporting libraries within states.  

Table 3 Public Libraries Lending 20,000 or More Volumes about 1856
state	City	Library	Volumes	Circulation	Users	Heading for Users	Circulation per User
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Mercantile Library	13,400	45,000	800	lent to…persons	56.3
New Jersey	Newark	Newark Library Association	7,000	24,000	636	lent to…persons	37.7
Massachusetts	Boston	Mercantile Library	18,000	96,000	2,667	members	36.0
Maryland	Baltimore	Maryland Institute	11,000	60,000	1,971	lent to…persons	30.4
Connecticut	Hartford	Young Men's Institute	11,611	24,000	792	members	30.3
New York	Troy	Young Men's Association	9,405	20,000	700	lent to…persons	28.6
Maryland	Baltimore	Mercantile Library Association	14,060	26,000	960	lent to…persons	27.1
New York	Buffalo	Young Men's Association	9,331	27,830	1,331	lent to…persons	20.9
New York	New York	Apprentices Library	19,026	40,349	1,936	accounts opened during year	20.8
Massachusetts	South Danvers	Peabody Institution	5,408	24,957	1,413	lent to…persons	17.7
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Apprentices' Library	16,500	48,000	3,637	readers	13.2
Ohio	Cincinnati	Mercantile Library	17,541	35,000	2,800	lent to…persons	12.5
Massachusetts	Boston	Public Library	56,000	92,233	13,781	accounts	6.7
Massachusetts	New Bedford	Free Public Library	10,000	23,240	3,937	lent to…persons	5.9
New York	New York	Mercantile Library	47,904	120,206	100,000	lent to…persons	1.2
New York	Brooklyn	Youths' Free Library	5000	30,000
Massachusetts	Newburyport	Public Library	8493	29,562
Maryland	Baltimore	Odd Fellow's Library	12584	27,406
New York	Poughkeepsie	Public School Library	4650	25,000

Rhees, p. xxi, lists “public libraries from which 20,000 volumes or upwards were lent during a single year.”  Table 3 lists these libraries, with data from the full entry for each library.  The source heading for circulation was typically “volumes lent.”  Four entries provided no information on users.  The other entries provided user counts, under the headings listed above.  The number of users for the New York Mercantile Library is extremely high.  Excluding that library, the aggregate circulation per user for the large libraries for which user counts are available was 15.7.    These large libraries account for about 5% of reported library volumes among all public libraries.

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