When asked what types of things are truly American, many people would likely offer up answers such as apple pie and baseball. Freedom and our flag. Hot dogs and hamburgers. Perhaps we should add libraries to that list. After all, there are more libraries in the United States today than Starbucks or McDonald's. Plus, the U.S. is home to the largest library in the WORLD -- the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. And while most of us can probably come up with a few facts about baseball (every MLB ball has 108 stitches) and apple pie (a food over 600 years old), here are some facts you may not have known about one of our most American institutions:
The New York Public Library's most borrowed book for 2022 was The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. In 2021 it was The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The New Berlin Public Library's mosts circulated book in 2022 was The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. Second was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
U.S. libraries employed over 282,000 people in 2022
There are over 123,000 libraries in the U.S. today
One of our country's oldest libraries was founded in Massachusetts in 1790 and began with donations from Founding Father Benjamin Franklin
Libraries are arguably the very brick and mortar symbol of our First Amendment: Freedom of Speech. During summer, this most patriotic of seasons, it's nice to appreciate all the things we love about America, including our libraries. As Albert Einstein once said, "The only thing that you absolutely have to know is the location of the library."
sources: ala.org; mentalfloss.com; loc.gov