Public Libraries in the Wake of COVID-19, Part 1: Public Programming, Circulating Materials, and Digital Shifts

Abstract This report is the first of two articles that present findings from a survey of public libraries in eight states across the U.S., selected for regional diversity, which included questions meant to provide insight into changes in American public library services during and after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes analyses of shifts in public libraries’ programming from in-person formats to digital delivery; circulation and budgeting trends, including changes from physical to digital items; and issues related to public libraries’ preparedness to engage with patrons through digital channels. The findings reveal that some changes in public library programs, such as offering live, online storytime sessions, were effectively stopgap measures in response to the pandemic, since very few libraries continued these services after the pandemic ended. However, an overwhelming majority of libraries reported that demand for digital circulating items remains well above pre-COVID levels, even as a slight major of libraries in the sample asserted that demand for physical items is back to where it was before the pandemic. Many of the findings show significant variance across different locales, though, as rural and town libraries were less likely to engage in certain digital activities than libraries in cities and suburbs.