Getting started

2023 Oregon Public Library Statistical Report

This guide has been updated as of June 30, 2023, and has up-to-date information and FAQs about the 2023 report. Please use the menu on the left to navigate through the various sections of the report instructions.

Important dates:

• This year, the reporting period will open on July 17, 2023, and is meant to capture data from the previous state fiscal year period: July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
• The statutory deadline to complete your library's report is October 31, 2023.  We will NOT be providing extensions this year, except for extenuating circumstances.
• After submitting your library's report, you will have until December 31, 2023, to request (in writing) any necessary changes to your submitted data. No changes can be made after that date.
• The State Library will follow up with you concerning any questions about your report by mid-January 2024. 
• Statewide 2023 data will be published on the State Library's website by February 1, 2024.
• You may request a copy of your library's 2023 data at any point after it has been submitted or during the data reporting process. You may also download a PDF of your report, regardless of its status, at any time.

An announcement with instructions for how to complete the 2023 report using our new platform will be emailed to all Oregon public library directors, or to staff who completed the 2022 report, by July 17, 2023.

A a complete set of these instructions is available as a PDF below, along with a PDF version of the report form to help with data gathering. You can also print any page of this guide using the Print Page link at the bottom of each page. 

New questions in 2023

We have a couple of slight changes to questions in Part 3 - Revenue.

Question 305 - State Revenue has been split into two separate questions:

• 305a Ready to Read Grant Revenue. This will be pre-filled by the State Library.
• 305b All other State Revenue. Please report all other state-sourced funds distributed to your library here. DO NOT include Ready to Read Grants here.

Parts A and B will then be auto-summed for the national Public Library Survey dataset into the existing question (this will not appear in the stats report form):

• 305 Total State Government Revenue (auto-summed from 305a and 305b).

Additionally, Question 306 - LSTA Grant Revenue will be pre-filled by the State Library. This will include all LSTA-sourced funds your library received from a LSTA Competitive Grant or a Teen Internship Grant (or both, where applicable). Please report all other federally-sourced revenue in Question 308. 

Minimum Conditions for Public Libraries

Fields with this symbol inform the minimum conditions review process. Please answer carefully and accurately!

In 2019, the Oregon legislature passed HB 2243 which:

• Updated the legal definition of "public library" to:
  • ​“Public library” means a public agency that provides to all residents of a local government unit free and equal access to library and information services that are suitable for persons of all ages.
• Required the State Library Board to establish minimum conditions that a public library must meet; these conditions must, at least:
  • Include financial support from public funds and regularly scheduled open hours; and
  • Provide reasonable exemptions to libraries with service populations of 2,000 or fewer residents of the local government unit.

The State Library of Oregon uses several data elements collected through the annual Oregon Public Library Statistical Report to help inform our review process of these minimum conditions, and these elements are identified throughout this guide with this blue exclamation point icon. For more information on Minimum Conditions for Public Libraries, please see our guide or contact Darci Hanning, Public Libraries Consultant, with questions.  

Questions removed in 2023

The following questions have been removed from this year's Oregon Public Library Statistical Report. Since these questions only asked for Yes/No responses, they are no longer of value as most libraries have moved services past the pandemic stage. 

CV01 - Closed Outlets Due to COVID-19. 

CV02 - Public Services During COVID-19. 

CV05 - Electronic Library Cards Issued During COVID-19.

CV06 - Reference Service During COVID-19.

CV07 - Curbside Service During COVID-19.

CV11 - External Wi-Fi Access During COVID-19.

CV12 - External Wi-Fi Access Increased During COVID-19.

CV13 - Staff Re-assigned During COVID-19.

CV14 - Number of Weeks Library Was Closed Due to COVID-19.

CV15 - Number of Weeks an Outlet Had Limited Occupancy Due to COVID-19.

Looking for older data?

• Oregon Public Library Statistics (2010-2022) are now available as a single dataset on the state's Open Data Portal! Users can download this dataset in a variety of formats, create filtered views and visualizations directly in the portal, or leverage the portal's API for external tools such as Tableau and Power BI. Contact Ross Fuqua for more information.  
• Complete Oregon Public Library Statistics are also available as annual Excel files on the State Library's website. We also link to even older datasets held in the State Library's digital collections.
• Oregon libraries can also review and download their previous reports from our reporting system (from 2021 - present). Simply log into the State Library's grants management/reporting platform, go to your Applicant Dashboard, click on Historical Requests tab, find the Statistical Report for the appropriate year, then click View Application (see screenshot below). You can view your previous report(s) in a browser, or download them here as a PDF. Contact Ross Fuqua for help.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) offers several data tools and products using the national Public Library Survey dataset:

• Public Library Survey datasets, going back to 1992.
• IMLS Library Search & Compare Tool
• Public Library Survey (PLS) Benchmarking Tables

New and improved (!) - Oregon Public Library Snapshot tool

We've recently redesigned our Oregon Public Library Snapshot. This data visualization is meant to allow libraries and communities to look up and download a PDF of a select set of their public library's statistics. The newly re-built Snapshot tool now includes data from 2010-2022, so you can also get a snapshot of your library for each year!

Click on this screenshot, choose a library and a year from the dropdown menus at the top, and have fun!