R o

Cuarrt 111

Trenp N Pusric LiBrRARY CIRCULATION FROM 1908 TO 1040, IN
Crties oF DirrereNT Si1zes BY PER CAPiTA CIRCULATION®

PER CAPITA CIRCULATION

      

1908 1940 1908 1940 1908 1940 1908 1940

10,000~ 35,000~ 100,000~ 200,000~
35,000 100,000 200,000 & OVER
SIZE OF CITY

“The cities were sampled from the 1940 set of statistics in the A.L.4. Bul-
letin. Data for 1908 were taken from the U.S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin
No. 5, 1909: Statistics of Public, Society' and School Libraries. Population
figures refer to the population served in 1940 and to the census data tIZ)r 1910.
Cities are ranked according to their size in 1940. Both adult and juvenile
circulation records are included. The numbers of cities included in the
sample:

200,000 and over 15

100,000-200,000 14

35,000-100,000 18

10,000-35,000 12

For a detailed account of trends in large public libraries (over 200,000 popu-
lation served) see Kaiser, 1948, p. 278, who points out that “circulation per
borrower has not changed greatly from 1908 to 1946, and then only in pe-
riods of significant fluctuation in business conditions and in employment or
in time of war.”