North American Public Library Statistics about 1868

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

Source:  Seventeenth Annual Report, 1869, Boston Public Library, Appendices XXII and XXIII, pp. 112-33.

App.	Rec.	City	State	Library Name	Volumes	Circulation	Users
12	2	Amherst	MA	College Library	24,286	5,000	300
12	3	Andover	MA	Theological Seminary	29,000	5,000	125
12	4	Arlington	MA	Public	2,005	6,000	200
12	5	Barnstable	MA	Sturgis	1,845	6,500	400
12	6	Beverly	MA	Public	4,610	10,000	1,275
12	12	Boston	MA	Mattapan Literary Association	3,000	1,550	50
12	13	Boston	MA	Mercantile	19,555	28,000	1,024
12	14	Boston	MA	Natural History Society	12,000	500	75
12	15	Boston	MA	New Church	1,000	1,200	350
12	17	Boston	MA	YMCA	4,610	3,900	700
12	18	Bridgewater (North)	MA	Public	2,667	25,000	1,546
12	19	Brighton	MA	Holton	5,008	17,303	750
12	20	Brookfield	MA	Merrick Public	1,847	9,000	700
12	21	Brookline	MA	Public	10,000	22,000	1,200
12	22	Burlington	MA	Public	800	1,500	220
12	24	Cambridge	MA	Dana	4,000	13,000	300
12	28	Chicopee	MA	Public	2,600	6,000	200
12	30	Concord	MA	Public	5,584	4,760	473
12	33	Dighton	MA	Social	558	2,500	75
12	34	Fall River	MA	Public	5,633	25,000	1,800
12	35	Fitchburg	MA	Public	7,500	30,000	1,527
12	38	Gloucester	MA	Lyceum	3,000	23,000	2,500
12	41	Hinsdale	MA	Public	2,000	4,150	137
12	42	Hudson	MA	Public	877	7,200	450
12	45	Lawrence	MA	Pacific Mills	5,000	23,400	900
12	47	Leominster	MA	Public	3,756	18,000	1,400
12	49	Lowell	MA	City Library	13,821	43,777	1,100
12	51	Lynn	MA	Public	10,672	49,164	1,100
12	52	Millbury	MA	Public	1,265	500	300
12	53	Natick	MA	Public	2,540	25,000	1,000
12	54	New Bedford	MA	Public	21,000	35,000	2,000
12	55	Newburyport	MA	Free	13,000	30,000	3,500
12	56	Newton	MA	Public	1,800	4,500	137
12	58	Northampton	MA	Public	5,000	10,000	600
12	59	Peabody	MA	Peabody Institute	13,300	24,600	1,500
12	60	Phillipston	MA	Phillips' Free Public	1,869	4,700	350
12	61	Pittsfield	MA	Mercantile	3,300	5,238	250
12	63	Reading, South	MA	Public	3,000	17,000	500
12	64	Roxbury	MA	Athenaeum	8,000	8,000	400
12	69	Springfield	MA	Public	26,488	80,000	1,600
12	70	Springfield, West	MA	Public	720	1,000	25
12	72	Stoneham	MA	Public	3,000	17,000	1,300
12	74	Studbury (South)	MA	Goodenow	3,784	10,000	800
12	75	Taunton	MA	Public	7,995	39,000	2,800
12	76	Waltham	MA	Public	5,000	32,991	2,756
12	81	Westford	MA	Public	1,544	2,845	450
12	82	Weston	MA	Public	3,000	6,000	200
12	84	Winchendon	MA	Public	1,295	9,000	710
12	85	Winchester	MA	Public	2,000	4,674	395
12	86	Woburn	MA	Public	3,714	12,768	600
12	87	Worcester	MA	Public	21,000	60,000	4,000
13	2	Albany	NY	Young Men's Association	11,021	36,000	1,200
13	9	Buffalo	NY	Young Men's Association	15,000	140,000	2,500
13	13	Cincinnati	OH	Public	30,206	33,000	3,800
13	15	Cleveland	OH	Library Association	10,000	25,600	800
13	17	Clinton	NY	Hamilton College	20,000	2,006	200
13	19	Concord	NH	City Public	4,884	16,869	648
13	20	Detroit	MI	Public	15,500	30,000	2,200
13	21	Detroit	MI	Young Men's Society	10,000	36,000	1,000
13	26	Keokuk	IA	Library Association	5,500	6,000	300
13	30	Middletown	CT	Wesleyan Univ	17,000	3,000	160
13	31	Milwaukee	WI	Young Men's Association	10,566	75,000	2,000
13	34	Newark	NJ	Library Association	15,500	42,000	1,500
13	36	Newport	RI	Public	4,225	21,075	1,000
13	38	New York City	NY	Apprentices	42,740	117,182	6,413
13	42	New York	NY	Mercantile	104,513	230,000	13,000
13	43	New York	NY	Society	28,000	1,500	250
13	47	Philadelphia	PA	Mechanics	20,000	24,897	1,616
13	48	Philadelphia	PA	Mercantile	47,000	135,018	6,300
13	51	Philadelphia	PA	Young Men's Christian Assoc.	3,000	6,000	1,000
13	52	Poughkeepsie	NY	Vassar College	3,880	3,760	400
13	53	Providence	RI	Brown University	38,000	6,000	750
13	54	Providence	RI	Athenaeum	30,566	20,000	3,000
13	55	Pittsburgh	PA	Mercantile	91,000	21,000	784
13	56	Portland	OR	Library Ass.	2,800	6,398	153
13	57	Rochester	NY	Athenaeum	19,000	2,500	600
13	58	St. Louis	MO	Public	11,800	57,417	3,700
13	60	San Francisco	CA	Mercantile	25,000	70,000	2,500
13	61	Savannah	GA	Historical Society	7,500	1,000	50
13	62	Schenectady	NY	Union College	10,000	1,200	125
13	63	Skowhegan	ME	Library	2,315	7,000	600
13	64	Syracuse	NY	Public	7,370	31,000	3,000
13	65	Troy	NY	Young Men's Assoc.	18,178	30,000	800
13	68	West Point	NY	Military Academy	21,554	10,820	400
13	69	Wilmington	DE	Young Men's Assoc.	7,589	27,903	1,200
13	70	Halifax	Canada	Citizen's Free Library	3,000	10000	400
13	72	Ottawa	Canada	Library of Parliament	60,000	9,000	440
Total					1,115,055	2,128,365	111,839

The source heading for circulation is “Use of books yearly / Loans,” where another subcategory under “Use of books yearly” is “Used in building.” The source heading for users is “People using the Library.”

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