US Public Library Data 2026
📊 Open Data · Free to reuse (CC BY 4.0)
US Public Library Data 2026
A free, citable dataset on America’s public libraries — how many there are in each state, and which everyday services they offer — compiled from the federal IMLS survey and our own verified library directory. Reuse it anywhere with attribution.
This page pulls together two things journalists, researchers, students and librarians ask for most: how many public libraries operate in each U.S. state, and how common specific library services are (printing, meeting rooms, notary, museum passes and more). All figures are aggregate counts — no personal data, no proprietary content — and every number is sourced below. You are free to download, chart and republish the tables, including commercially, as long as you credit Public-Libraries.com.
The headline numbers (IMLS, FY2023)
Physical outlets (central libraries + branches) actively open in FY2023; excludes bookmobiles and books-by-mail. Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2023.
⬇ Libraries by state (CSV)⬇ Service prevalence (CSV)⬇ Full dataset (JSON)
Format: UTF-8 CSV / JSON. License: CC BY 4.0 — free to reuse with credit (see below).
Public libraries by state (IMLS FY2023)
| State | Abbr | Total outlets | Central | Branches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | CA | 1,164 | 199 | 965 |
| New York | NY | 1,055 | 755 | 300 |
| Texas | TX | 870 | 544 | 326 |
| Illinois | IL | 773 | 623 | 150 |
| Ohio | OH | 719 | 239 | 480 |
| Michigan | MI | 643 | 393 | 250 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | 616 | 439 | 177 |
| Iowa | IA | 570 | 544 | 26 |
| Florida | FL | 535 | 57 | 478 |
| Wisconsin | WI | 458 | 380 | 78 |
| Massachusetts | MA | 454 | 367 | 87 |
| New Jersey | NJ | 439 | 295 | 144 |
| Indiana | IN | 426 | 235 | 191 |
| Georgia | GA | 394 | 59 | 335 |
| North Carolina | NC | 390 | 72 | 318 |
| Kansas | KS | 367 | 322 | 45 |
| Missouri | MO | 367 | 136 | 231 |
| Virginia | VA | 364 | 82 | 282 |
| Minnesota | MN | 357 | 134 | 223 |
| Washington | WA | 343 | 51 | 292 |
| Louisiana | LA | 330 | 66 | 264 |
| Alabama | AL | 291 | 223 | 68 |
| Tennessee | TN | 286 | 184 | 102 |
| Colorado | CO | 269 | 96 | 173 |
| Nebraska | NE | 267 | 245 | 22 |
| Maine | ME | 261 | 256 | 5 |
| Connecticut | CT | 234 | 190 | 44 |
| New Hampshire | NH | 228 | 223 | 5 |
| Arkansas | AR | 225 | 58 | 167 |
| Mississippi | MS | 224 | 53 | 171 |
| Arizona | AZ | 222 | 84 | 138 |
| Oklahoma | OK | 218 | 120 | 98 |
| Oregon | OR | 216 | 135 | 81 |
| Kentucky | KY | 203 | 120 | 83 |
| South Carolina | SC | 198 | 42 | 156 |
| Maryland | MD | 191 | 14 | 177 |
| Vermont | VT | 187 | 183 | 4 |
| West Virginia | WV | 170 | 96 | 74 |
| Idaho | ID | 153 | 101 | 52 |
| New Mexico | NM | 125 | 96 | 29 |
| South Dakota | SD | 124 | 106 | 18 |
| Utah | UT | 122 | 61 | 61 |
| Montana | MT | 113 | 82 | 31 |
| Puerto Rico | PR | 107 | 40 | 67 |
| North Dakota | ND | 87 | 78 | 9 |
| Alaska | AK | 85 | 70 | 15 |
| Nevada | NV | 82 | 19 | 63 |
| Wyoming | WY | 74 | 23 | 51 |
| Rhode Island | RI | 71 | 47 | 24 |
| Hawaii | HI | 50 | 1 | 49 |
| Delaware | DE | 33 | 19 | 14 |
| District of Columbia | DC | 26 | 1 | 25 |
| Guam | GU | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | VI | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | MP | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| American Samoa | AS | 2 | 1 | 1 |
How common are library services?
Based on our verified sample of 2,633 U.S. public libraries (libraries we have individually researched and documented). Important: these percentages describe our sample, not a national census — please do not report them as "% of all U.S. libraries."
| Service | Libraries (of 2,633) | % of sample |
|---|---|---|
| Printing, copying, scanning & fax | 1,855 | 70.5% |
| Meeting / community rooms | 1,190 | 45.2% |
| Genealogy & local history | 809 | 30.7% |
| Study rooms | 421 | 16.0% |
| Museum / culture passes | 402 | 15.3% |
| Notary services | 382 | 14.5% |
| Library of Things | 365 | 13.9% |
| Makerspace / 3D printing | 352 | 13.4% |
| Story times | 247 | 9.4% |
| Seed library | 207 | 7.9% |
| Passport services | 114 | 4.3% |
Sources & methodology
- State counts come from the IMLS Public Libraries Survey (FY2023), the federal census of U.S. public libraries — counting active physical outlets (central libraries and branches).
- Service prevalence is derived from Public-Libraries.com’s own directory: a growing, hand-verified sample of individual library pages where each listed service was confirmed against the library’s official source.
- We publish aggregate counts only. This dataset contains no personal data and no per-library operational details.
License & how to cite
This dataset is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license. You may share and adapt it, including for commercial use, provided you give credit with a link. Suggested attribution:
Who this is for
Journalists & researchers: free, sourced state-level counts you can chart or quote today. Librarians & LIS students: a quick benchmark of how widespread common services are. Developers: grab the CSV/JSON for your own tools. Need a specific cut of the data or have a correction? Contact us via the About page.
Looking for a specific library instead of the numbers? Browse public libraries by state, by county, or search by city.