Have public library visits recovered since 2019?
Not yet. Among the 7,098 systems with a comparable FY 2019 count, visits in FY 2024 added up to 30% fewer than five years earlier, and the median system was 26% below its own FY 2019 level. The direction is up, though: visits rose 8% on FY 2023 across the 8,319 systems with both years.
How the comparison is made
FY 2019 is the last full year before pandemic closures. Each system's FY 2024 count is matched to its own FY 2019 count through the IMLS library identifier. Systems whose service population changed by more than 15% in between (after a merger or a boundary change) are left out, as are the few whose count jumped or fell so far that a change in counting method is the likelier explanation. That leaves 7,098 systems for visits and 7,229 for physical checkouts.
Visits fell further than checkouts
Physical checkouts, renewals included, were 23% below FY 2019 in total, a smaller drop than visits. Still, 1,112 systems (16%) did record more visits in FY 2024 than in FY 2019.
Change by size of community
The gap narrows in smaller communities. The chart shows how far below FY 2019 the median system in each class stood; the table adds the median change in physical checkouts.
| Population served | Systems compared | Median change in visits | Median change in checkouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 million or more | 34 | −33.6% | −25.6% |
| 500,000 to 999,999 | 54 | −29.5% | −24.8% |
| 250,000 to 499,999 | 108 | −30.3% | −23.6% |
| 100,000 to 249,999 | 322 | −28.6% | −21.6% |
| 50,000 to 99,999 | 495 | −29.5% | −22.7% |
| 25,000 to 49,999 | 861 | −27.7% | −21.1% |
| 10,000 to 24,999 | 1,456 | −27.7% | −21.2% |
| 5,000 to 9,999 | 1,191 | −26.3% | −22.1% |
| 2,500 to 4,999 | 954 | −24.9% | −22.4% |
| 1,000 to 2,499 | 1,052 | −23.0% | −22.9% |
| under 1,000 | 571 | −22.6% | −20.7% |
States furthest along, and furthest behind
Median change in visits among each state's systems, for states with at least ten comparable systems.
Smallest decline
| State | Median change | Systems |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | −13.5% | 61 |
| Utah | −16.0% | 38 |
| Maine | −17.8% | 185 |
| South Dakota | −20.7% | 73 |
| Montana | −20.8% | 62 |
| New Hampshire | −21.1% | 168 |
| Wyoming | −21.3% | 22 |
| Kansas | −22.0% | 268 |
Largest decline
| State | Median change | Systems |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | −38.6% | 67 |
| Kentucky | −35.9% | 115 |
| Alaska | −35.8% | 36 |
| California | −35.4% | 155 |
| Mississippi | −34.5% | 50 |
| South Carolina | −34.5% | 31 |
| West Virginia | −34.3% | 86 |
| Nevada | −34.0% | 18 |
The latest year: FY 2023 to FY 2024
The five-year comparison hides the recent direction. Between FY 2023 and FY 2024, 5,986 of the 8,319 systems with a comparable FY 2023 count (72%) recorded more visits. The median change by size class:
| Population served | Systems compared | Median change in visits, FY 2023 to FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 million or more | 35 | +6.4% |
| 500,000 to 999,999 | 61 | +8.4% |
| 250,000 to 499,999 | 121 | +6.7% |
| 100,000 to 249,999 | 356 | +8.6% |
| 50,000 to 99,999 | 553 | +7.1% |
| 25,000 to 49,999 | 949 | +7.3% |
| 10,000 to 24,999 | 1,656 | +6.2% |
| 5,000 to 9,999 | 1,387 | +5.8% |
| 2,500 to 4,999 | 1,158 | +5.2% |
| 1,000 to 2,499 | 1,291 | +4.7% |
| under 1,000 | 752 | +3.5% |
The median rose in every size class, so the recent movement is broad rather than limited to a few large systems.
A single year can move for reasons that have nothing to do with demand, such as a branch closing for renovation or a new door counter, so the figure for any one library is best read together with its FY 2019 comparison.
Large systems furthest below 2019
Among systems serving half a million people or more with a comparable FY 2019 count, the steepest drops in visits belong to Free Library of Philadelphia (−66.7%), Boston Public Library (−61.9%), Fresno County Public Library (−58.0%), Memphis Public Library and Information Center (−54.0%) and Multnomah County Library (−51.3%). A large drop can reflect closed or renovated buildings, shorter hours, changed counting methods or lower demand; the survey does not say which.
Checkouts state by state
For physical checkouts, the median system did best in Massachusetts (−7.9%), Pennsylvania (−8.3%) and North Dakota (−11.4%), and furthest below FY 2019 in Arkansas (−41.9%), West Virginia (−39.5%) and New Mexico (−38.0%), counting states with at least ten comparable systems. Every system page with a comparable FY 2019 base shows its own change in checkouts next to the change in visits, so a library can be read against its state's median here.
What the decline means per resident
Put in per-resident terms on the same set of systems, and holding their FY 2024 service populations constant, the change runs from about 3.79 visits per resident in FY 2019 to 2.65 in FY 2024. The comparison uses only libraries whose service area stayed broadly the same, which is why it covers fewer systems than the FY 2024 totals elsewhere on the site.
Two cautions apply to any single library. First, FY 2019 is itself only one year, and a library that was closed for part of it for renovation will show an unusually low base. Second, some libraries changed how they count visits between the two years, and the survey does not flag it. A system page shows the FY 2023 count as well, which helps separate a lasting trend from a one-year jump.
The trend figures also leave out systems that merged, split or redrew their boundaries, because their FY 2019 and FY 2024 counts describe different areas. For those systems the FY 2024 figures stand alone, and comparisons on this site rely on the size class and named peers instead of change over time.
Larger systems with more visits than in 2019
In all, 34 systems serving 100,000 or more people logged more visits in FY 2024 than in FY 2019. New or reopened buildings, longer hours and changes in how visits are counted can each produce a rise, so the figures are best read alongside the system's own page.
| System | State | Visits FY 2019 | Visits FY 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendersonville Public Library of Sumner County | Tennessee | 83,882 | 192,000 | +128.9% |
| Hayward Public Library | California | 165,372 | 363,855 | +120.0% |
| Brockton Public Library | Massachusetts | 260,090 | 566,457 | +117.8% |
| Bryan+College Station Public Library System | Texas | 217,918 | 325,886 | +49.5% |
| Missoula Public Library | Montana | 349,787 | 505,223 | +44.4% |
| Hialeah Public Libraries | Florida | 114,946 | 161,507 | +40.5% |
| Spokane Public Library | Washington | 944,232 | 1,266,849 | +34.2% |
| Round Rock Public Library System | Texas | 416,391 | 552,424 | +32.7% |
| Speer Memorial Library | Texas | 193,811 | 251,383 | +29.7% |
| El Dorado County Library | California | 426,371 | 534,602 | +25.4% |
Every system page with a comparable FY 2019 count carries a small chart of visits and checkouts for FY 2019, FY 2023 and FY 2024. To set one system's recovery against others its size, use the peer check or read how often Americans visit.