Welcome to the Library Statistics Program

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is now conducting the Academic Libraries Survey as part of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The Academic Libraries component for IPEDS replaced the previous Academic Libraries Survey. Between 2000 and 2012, the Academic Libraries Survey (ALS) was conducted independently of IPEDS, which was collected from degree-granting postsecondary institutions every other year in even-numbered years. Since 2014 (there was not a survey in 2013), the ALS was reintegrated back into the IPEDS collection as the Academic Libraries (AL) component, which is mandatory and collected annually in the spring. Visit the Academic Libraries Resource page for more information on reporting changes. The most recent AL survey was conducted in 2014; those data were made available to the public in December 2015 and can be obtained through the IPEDS Use the Data portal.

Data

• Academic library data from 2014 and beyond can be compared across institutions using the "Compare Institution" data tool on the IPEDS Use the Data portal.
• Academic library data from 1996 to 2012 can be accessed via the Academic Library Data File page, which contains full data files with tip sheets for how to use them. Note that the Compare Academic Libraries tool is no longer available to access these data.
• Public Libraries Survey and the State Library Agencies Survey have been administered by Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) since October 2007, and IMLS now distributes information about those surveys going back to 1989.
• Elementary/secondary public school library media centers data and information from 1993-94 through 2011-12 can be accessed on the Schools and Staffing Survey website. More recent data can be found in this National Teacher and Principal Survey table.

Highlights

March 8, 2023:

Digest of Education Statistics, 2021

February 10, 2022:

Digest of Education Statistics, 2020

February 25, 2021:

Digest of Education Statistics, 2019

December 24, 2019:

Digest of Education Statistics, 2018