11 Date in April 2018 that National Bookmobile Day—part of National Library Week—will be celebrated. 2010 Year that National Bookmobile Day was first observed by the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS), Association for Rural and Small Libraries, and American Library Association’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. 1905 Year that the first … Continue reading By the Numbers: Bookmobiles
5,280 Denver’s elevation (in feet) above sea level gives the city its “Mile High” nickname. Over the years, three different steps outside the gold-adorned Colorado State Capitol building have been marked as the official mile-high point. 150 Number of archival collections of personal and professional items from African Americans in the West available in the … Continue reading By the Numbers: Get to Know Denver
1990 Year that President George H. W. Bush, at the request of Congress, issued a proclamation designating November as National American Indian Heritage Month. Similar proclamations and variations on the name—including Native American Heritage Month and National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month—have been issued each year since 1994. 567 Number of federally recognized … Continue reading By the Numbers: Native American Heritage Month
1988 The year then–Secretary of Education William Bennett issued the challenge: “Let’s have a national campaign. Every child should obtain a library card—and use it.” The following year, the American Library Association declared September as Library Card Sign-Up Month. 500 Number of children who attended the October 14, 1988, kickoff event on the National Mall … Continue reading By the Numbers: Library Cards
756,000 Square footage of Chicago Public Library’s (CPL) main building, the Harold Washington Library Center. At the time of its completion in 1991, it was the largest single library building in the US. 9th Floor of the Harold Washington Library Center where you’ll find the Winter Garden, a meeting space featuring an atrium, marble floors, … Continue reading By the Numbers: Literary Chicago
1–7 Dates in May that Choose Privacy Week is annually observed. 1939 Year that the American Library Association adopted its Bill of Rights, which affirms a commitment to privacy in its first iteration. 48 Number of US states (plus the District of Columbia) that protect the confidentiality of library users’ records by law. The remaining … Continue reading By the Numbers: Privacy
1857 Year that Jane Wadden Turner was hired as a library clerk by the Smithsonian. She was the first woman to secure a paid position at the institution. 16 Number of years that the Amelia Bloomer List, a project of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Social Responsibilities Round Table Feminist Task Force, has been recommending … Continue reading By the Numbers: Women and Libraries
4 Number of names the city went through—Terminus, Thrasherville, Marthasville, Atlantica-Pacifica—before being incorporated as Atlanta in 1847. 1905 Year that the Southern Library School, later renamed the Carnegie Library School of Atlanta, opened. Considered the first library school in the South, it was located at Emory University from 1930 until its closing in 1988. 1959 … Continue reading By the Numbers: Atlanta
1939 Year the Presidential Library System began. Franklin D. Roosevelt donated his presidential and personal documents to the federal government. 643 Number of hours of recorded telephone conversations the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum has collected. The conversation topics range from the assassination of JFK to dealing with the USSR. 45 Number of meetings … Continue reading By the Numbers: Presidential Libraries
18 Number of terra-cotta figures—academic heroes such as Plato, Benjamin Franklin, and Galileo—guarding the façade of the Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington in Seattle. 123,000 Square footage of the McAllen (Tex.) Public Library, built in a former Walmart store and the largest single-floor library in the US. 1895 Year that Boston Public Library … Continue reading By the Numbers: Library Architecture and Design
103 Number of librarians who attended the “Convention of Librarians” during the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876—what is considered the birth of the ALA. Of these founders, 90 were men and 13 were women. 60,301 Number of active ALA members, as of March 2016. Today, women account for about 85% of all librarians in … Continue reading By the Numbers: ALA’s 140th Anniversary
23 million Number of items contained within the Boston Public Library (BPL) system. BPL is ranked second only to the Library of Congress in collection size. 3 Rank of Harvard University, another Boston-area institution, on the same list of the nation’s largest libraries by volumes held. 1721 Year that the New-England Courant, considered the first independent … Continue reading By the Numbers: Boston
