Item Formats in U.S. Public Libraries, 1955
|
format |
Items at end of year |
Items circulating during year |
||
|
library systems reporting |
items |
library systems reporting |
circulation |
|
|
books (vols.) |
6,263 |
173,800,266 |
6,166 |
492,386,201 |
|
uncatalogued pamphlets |
1,657 |
6,284,882 |
1,850 |
1,160,902 |
|
photo, pictures, print |
1,657 |
13,728,558 |
1,850 |
3,441,230 |
|
maps |
1,657 |
557,462 |
1,850 |
49,011 |
|
slides, filmstrips |
1,657 |
283,415 |
1,850 |
473,041 |
|
microfilms |
1,657 |
117,868 |
1,850 |
5,580 |
|
films |
1,657 |
42,582 |
1,850 |
632,940 |
|
sound recordings |
1,657 |
912,555 |
1,850 |
3,459,053 |
|
other |
1,657 |
710,689 |
1,850 |
723,329 |
Data from U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States 1954-56, Chapter 5, Statistics of Public Libraries: 1955-56, Tables 9-13. The “other” format category “includes such items as musical scores, projectors and screens, rapid reading kits, and ceiling-projected books.” I guess that musical scores were the most highly circulated item among these miscellaneous formats.
The data are for public-library fiscal years ending any time between July 1, 1955, and June 30, 1956. Most libraries submitted data for calendar year 1955 or a fiscal year ending on June 30, 1956. See id. p. 6. For simplicity, I refer to the reporting year as 1955.
The above data is the basis for the percent distributions, scaled by the number of systems reporting, in discussion of non-book formats in library collections.