Boston Public Library
BPL by the Numbers

Borrowing and Web Visits Strong. During FY11, the Boston Public Library exceeded its goal for materials borrowed and downloaded, crossing the 3.5 million threshold for the second year in a row. During the same time period, the library had 7.2 million visits to its website, an increase of 2 million since FY09.

Computer Use on the Rise. The Boston Public Library continues to serve as a key access point for public use of wireless internet sessions and computers. During FY11, there were over 230,000 public wireless sessions, more than twice the amount of sessions that took place in FY08. The growth of public use of BPL computers also rose to 743,268 in FY11, a 38% increase over five years.

New Library Cards. More than 36,000 Boston residents signed up for Boston Public Library cards in FY11. Over the past three years, the number of new cards issued to Boston residents exceeds 115,000.

 

Library-generated statistics

Boston Public Library Quarterly Usage Reports

Boston Public Library Accomplishments 2010-2011 (PDF)

 

Boston About Results

Boston About Results (BAR) is the City of Boston's performance management program. The cornerstone of BAR is a web-based system for collecting and tracking data for all City departments. BAR represents a citywide effort to increase accountability and transparency both within government and with citizens. Performance information is published quarterly on the City of Boston web site. The Boston Public Library provides links to this same quarterly information from www.bpl.org below. To learn more about BAR, visit the City of Boston's BAR web page.

Boston Public Library's Performance Reports ( FY12 Quarter 1; FY11 Quarters 3 & 4 )

FY11 Quarter 2 Performance Report (PDF)

FY11 Quarter 1 Performance Report (PDF)

FY10 Quarter 4 Performance Report (PDF)

FY10 Quarter 3 Performance Report (PDF)

FY10 Quarter 2 Performance Report (PDF)

FY10 Quarter 1 Performance Report (PDF)

 

State-level statistics

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) collects and analyzes financial, demographic and personnel data and information on public libraries' staffing and services. The data are compiled each year in a series of reports.

MBLC Library Statistics