€ The nation's reference librarians answer 295 million questions annually. Standing in line single file, those asking questions would stretch from coast to coast.
€ Federal spending on libraries totals only 57 cents per person -- about the cost of a pack of gum.
€ In 25 years, federal funding for libraries comes to less than the cost of one aircraft carrier (est. $3.5 billion).
School
€ Americans spend nine times as much on home video games ($1.5 billion) as they do on school library materials for their children.
€ A recent Colorado study found that the highest achieving students come from schools with good library media centers.
€ Most school libraries spend only about $6 per child for books -- less than half the average cost of one book.
€ Students visit school library media centers some 1.7 billion times during the school year -- about twice the number of visits to state and national parks.
€ A quarter of all schools have no school librarian.
Public
€ There are more public libraries than McDonald's -- a total of 15.872 including branches.
€ Americans check out an average of six books a year and spend an average of $18.73 a year in taxes for public library service -- the same as one hardcover book.
€ A 1993 Gallup Poll found that a majority of Americans believe that tax support for public libraries should be double the current amount.
€ Americans spend $330 billion a year on legalized gambling -- enough to fund public libraries for the next 75 years.
€ Public libraries receive less than 1 percent of all tax dollars and are used by more than 50 percent of the population.
€ More children participate in summer reading programs at libraries than play Little League baseball.
Academic
€ College librarians answer 94 million reference questions each year -- more than three times the attendance at college football games.
€ College librarians receive 2 cents of every dollar spent on higher education -- down from 3 cents in 1980 with the purchasing power deflated to that of a penny.
€ The cost of scholarly periodicals needed by university libraries more than doubled in the last six years.
€ If the cost of gas had risen as fast as academic library materials (in the last 15 years), it would now cost $2.66 a gallon to put fuel in your car.
€ College and university libraries loan 180 million items each year at a cost of a billion dollars. If students and faculty had to purchase those materials, they would have to pay $8 billion!