Poverty and Public Library Usage in Iowa

ABSTRACT

This analysis identifies relationships between library usage, poverty, and median household income in Iowa. Quantitative analysis identifies two distinctive correlations within this data set. First, there is a negative correlation between library usage and poverty, associating higher library usage with lower poverty. Second, there is a subtle positive correlation between library usage and median household income, associating higher library usage with higher median household income. Library usage data is derived from the Iowa Library Services’ Iowa Public Library Statistics (July 1, 2013--June 30, 2014). Poverty and median household income data is derived from the United States Census Bureau.

KEYWORDS:

• Iowa
• library circulation
• library statistics
• poverty
• rural libraries
• socioeconomic factors

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeffrey Meyer

Jeffrey Meyer is the director of the Mount Pleasant Public Library. He received his MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006. He also has an MA in applied archaeology from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.