Read Across America Week is upon us, and people across Kansas will pick up a book to kindle their love of reading this week. Read Across America Week runs from March 2 to March 6, starting with Read Across America Day, which coincides with Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2.
Libraries are the ideal place to discover a lifelong joy of reading at this time, so language learning platform Mondly determined which states best support their local libraries by creating an index that combines four statistics on library usage and funding in each state.
The study used the latest data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which covers Fiscal Year 2023, and the four factors included in the analysis were: library visits per person, library materials borrowed per person, library revenue per person, and the percentage of the state population that are registered library users.
Kansas was America’s third-best state for supporting its local libraries, with a score of 77.6 out of 100 on an index that considers four factors related to local library support. Kansas’s libraries operated on $69.25 of funding per person, America’s ninth-best funding rate and 33.9% more than the national average of $51.73 per person. Overall, Kansas’s 318 library systems, with 362 libraries in total, received $176.4 million in funding in Fiscal Year 2023.
Kansans also recorded the fourth-best average of yearly library visits per person, at 3.79, the eighth-best average of borrowed library materials per person, at 8.4 per year, and the second-best percentage of registered library users, at 66%.
Ohio ranked as America’s best state for library lovers, with an impressive score of 95.6 out of 100 for local library support and usage. Ohioans topped the rankings by borrowing the most library materials per person, at 12.99 (115% more than the national average of 6.04), and having America’s best per capita library funding of $94.55 ($42.82 per person better than the national average of $51.73).
What we’re reading
We polled the Great Bend Tribune staff to see what they are currently reading or have recently read. Here were their answers:
- Dee Duryee, “A Court of Thorns and Roses” romantasy (fantasy romance) series by Sarah J. Maas, also characterized as new adult (NA) fantasy and fairy tale retelling
- Susan Thacker - “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution” by Jill Lepore; before that, “The Black Wolf,” a thriller by Louise Penny
- Mike Gilmore - “Nobody’s Girl,” a memoir by Virginia Giuffre
- Kaleb Babcock - “The Fellowship of the Ring” (Volume 1 in the fantasy fiction novel, “The Lord of the Rings”) by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Andrew Murphy - “It Can’t Happen Here,” a dystopian political novel from 1935 by Sinclair Lewis; children’s book, “Dinosaur Dance!” by Sandra Boynton
- Richard Lartz - “The Witcher” fantasy series by Andrzej Sapkowski
- Karma Byers and Jana Hestand - “Bridgerton” historical romance series by Julia Quinn
- Abby Grasser - “Love Me Stalk Me,” (audiobook) a dark romantic comedy by Laura Bishop; before that, “Game On” and other romance novels by Navessa Allen.
