Australian public library stats report for 2015-16 released

National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) has released its annual Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report for the period 2015-2016.

The report found that total expenditure on public libraries increased from $1.14bn in 2014-2015, to $1.18bn in 2015-16. The figure is up from $1.01bn in 2011-2012, representing a five-year rise of 17.3%.

Lending from public libraries dropped from 166.8 million items lent in 2014-15, to 165.2m in 2015-16. The drop in items lent continues a five-year negative trend after just under 181 million items were lent in 2011-12, representing a drop of 8.6% over the period.

Expenditure on library materials grew by 2.2% between 2011-2012 and 2015-2016, with significant increases reported in WA (15.3%) and Tasmania (19.5%). States and territories reported to decrease over the period were the ACT (27.9%), the Northern Territory (six percent), Victoria (2.2%) and Queensland (two percent).

Select national statistics show that in 2015-2016:

• Australia had 1656 public library service points (up from 1631 last year) with 1408 branches, 78 mobile libraries and 170 other outlets
• Over 113 million customers visited, or more than 9.4 million per month
• Over 36.9 million items were made available for the use of the community and over $126 million was spent on ensuring that these collections remain up to date and relevant
• Over 211,000 library programs were attended by more than 6.1 million people.

The annual report identifies and measures the usage and activities of Australia’s public library services, including national, state and territory libraries.

To view the report, click here.

Category: Library news