Profile America — NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2015 — April is a significant month for the American printed word. In 1800, the Library of Congress was founded, and earlier this week, in 1828, Noah Webster published the first dictionary of American English.
While computers and electronic media are of increasing importance in the services libraries offer, books remain at the core of their collections, with the Library of Congress alone holding more than 36 million.
It’s estimated there are over 120,000 libraries across the U.S., from the familiar public libraries to those in schools, academies and governments.
State and local libraries employ 86,000 people full time, and almost 98,000 part-timers. Profile America is completing its 18th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources:
Library of Congress founded: www.memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr24.html
Book holdings: www.loc.gov/about/fascinating-facts/
Number of libraries: www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet01
State and local government library employment: www.factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at www.census.gov (look for “Multimedia Gallery” by the “Newsroom” button).
