Washington, DC -- The 1997 National Survey of U.S. Public Libraries and the Internet: Final Report has been issued. This report was conducted for the American Library Association (ALA) and the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) by Dr. John Carlo Bertot, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Dr. Charles R. McClure, Syracuse University, and Dr. Patricia Diamond Fletcher, University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
The 1997 study builds and expands upon areas of public library Internet-related data as reported in the 1994 and 1996 studies sponsored by NCLIS. The report also provides information on U.S. public library infrastructure and costs associated with Internet-related services and technology.
While nearly three-fifths of the nation’s public library systems offer some type of Internet access, fewer than one in seven have World Wide Web access in their community branch libraries, according to the 1997 National Survey.
Based on a survey of 1,700 of the nation’s more than 8,900 public libraries, more than 60 percent offer public access to the Internet, up from nearly 28 percent in 1996. However, only 13 percent of library systems offer World Wide Web access at some or all of their branches. The study also showed that 65 percent of public library systems in metropolitan areas offer Web access in at least one branch compared with only 44 percent of rural area library systems.
Policy Issues and Strategies Affecting Public Libraries in the National Networked Environment: Moving Beyond Connectivity, has been issued by NCLIS. This special report was prepared as a follow up to the 1997 national survey, and was sponsored by NCLIS.
This report, co-authored by Dr. John Carlo Bertot and Dr. Charles R. McClure, raises pertinent questions about the unequal distribution of Internet connectivity, costs and provision of service across library population of legal service areas or urban/rural status. It also uses information from the 1994-1996 studies sponsored by the Commission on the same topic.
By the end of March a limited number of hard copies of The 1997 National Study will be available from the American Library Association, 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 403, Washington, DC 20004 (telephone: 202-628-8410). You can view the report at http://research.umbc.edu/~bertot/ala97.html.
A limited number of copies of the special report is available from the NCLIS office. The report is located on NCLIS’ web site at
The survey project was coordinated by the ALA Office of Information Technology Policy, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and support from ALA members.
The Chicago-based ALA is a nonprofit education association with some 58,000 members, including librarians, library trustees, educators, friends of libraries and other supporters. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library service and public access to information.
The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is a permanent independent agency of the federal government composed of sixteen members. The fourteen appointed members serve five-year terms. The two ex officio members are the Librarian of Congress and the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. NCLIS is charged by law (P.L. 91-345) to advise the President and Congress on national and international library and information services policies and plans.