How to Get Visitor Data for Your Library’s Annual Survey

By Raymond Casgrain, Marketing Lead, SMS Storetraffic · Last revised: 16 October 2026

Count the people who enter the library, at every public entrance, for the whole reporting year. The US Public Libraries Survey defines library visits as “the total number of persons entering the library for whatever purpose during the year” (IMLS, FY2024 guide published June 2026). The British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta surveys also count entries, and each re-entry counts again. A year-round count is the standard. If you can’t count all year, most of the surveys in this article accept an estimate from a sample week instead, but the week and the multiplier depend on where you report. IMLS takes a typical October week times 52, Quebec a typical November week times 52, Alberta’s 2015 guide a week times 50, and North Carolina one typical week per quarter times 13. In Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Pennsylvania, you have to file the annual survey to get provincial or state funding.

What counts as a visit on the annual library survey?

A library visit is a person entering the library, for any reason, and most surveys count the same person again each time they come back in.

• IMLS (US public libraries, FY2024): “the total number of persons entering the library for whatever purpose during the year.” Our guide to IMLS visitor counting requirements covers the US survey in more detail.
• ARL (research libraries, 2014-15 instructions): a single person may be counted more than once if they enter the library multiple times.
• ACRL (academic libraries, 2025 survey): “It is understood that a single person may be counted more than once.”
• British Columbia (2021 survey questions): persons should be counted each time they enter the service point.
• Ontario (typical week form, 2014 version): count people entering and re-entering, including people attending programs or using community meeting rooms.
• Alberta (2022 annual report key): include each re-entry, plus visits to smart lockers and curbside or hold pick-ups.
• Minnesota (2025): the people who entered the library or the bookmobile.

A person who steps out to take a call and comes back in is two visits under most of these definitions.

How do I collect the library visit count?

The US survey asks which of two methods you used: an annual count, or an annual estimate based on a typical week or weeks.

With door counters running all year:

1. List every public entrance of every service point, and check that each one has a working counter.
2. For the survey’s reporting period, add up the entries recorded at each entrance. Sacramento City College Library, for example, reports the number of times its front entrance threshold was crossed by people on their way in.
3. Fill any outage and write down how. One CARL member library reported that when its gate counter was down, it used the past five years of counts to provide a low estimate (2018-19).
4. Report the total as an annual count.

Without counters, with a sample week:

1. Pick the week your survey names (the table below lists several).
2. Tally people entering at every public door for all open hours that week.
3. Multiply by your survey’s multiplier and report the result as an estimate.

Can I estimate library visits from a typical week instead of counting all year?

Most of the surveys in this article accept a sample-week estimate when there’s no year-round count. They differ on the week, the multiplier, and what to do when the estimate is weak.

Sample week or year-round count: what’s the trade-off?

Treat the sample week as a fallback. IMLS defines visits as everyone entering “during the year,” asks whether the figure you report is an annual count or an estimate, and says visit figures “may be inaccurate due to insufficient counting technology or unrepresentative typical week counts.” The sample week has four catches:

• Seasons. The IFLS Library System in Wisconsin tells its libraries: “Your library’s visits in May are likely different than those in January or September.” North Carolina asks for four sample weeks a year, one per quarter, instead of one.
• Staff time. Someone has to tally every public entrance for every open hour of the sample week. Take a hypothetical library with one entrance open 60 hours a week: that’s up to 60 staff-hours per sample week, 240 hours a year at North Carolina’s four weeks, and 480 hours with a second entrance. That assumes someone watches the door full-time; tallying from the desk between other tasks takes less staff time but makes missed visitors more likely.
• The multiplier. Say a typical week brings in 1,000 visits (again hypothetical). Times 52 (IMLS, Quebec), that’s 52,000 visits a year; times 50 (Alberta’s 2015 guide), it’s 50,000. The multiplier alone opens a 4% gap, so use your own survey’s and never borrow a neighbor’s.
• A weak estimate may not be wanted. Wisconsin DPI’s 2018 guidance says to report “Did Not Collect” rather than an estimate when there was no survey week and no count, and Minnesota has a “not known” box for sample weeks that didn’t give a reasonable estimate.

A door counter on every public entrance, left running all year, gets around all four. Nobody has to stand at the door, no multiplier is involved, and what you file is a count. Spot-check it against a short manual tally now and then: IMLS names insufficient counting technology as a source of error too.

Should library staff be in the visit count?

Ontario and Quebec tell libraries to leave staff out of the visit count, while British Columbia excludes staff only where that’s simple. Ontario’s typical week form says to exclude staff and service personnel. Quebec’s instructions say to deduct staff entries and exits. British Columbia says staff should be excluded “if doing so is relatively simple,” and that libraries using automatic counters on turnstiles “should not try to subtract staff from these totals.” Some advice goes the other way. Wisconsin’s IFLS Library System tells its member libraries that during survey weeks, staff should count every person who walks in, library and municipal staff included, because “a door counter doesn’t discern who is visiting on ‘official library business’ and your staff shouldn’t either.”

Whichever rule you follow, keep it from year to year. A total that included staff one year and left them out the next can’t be compared with the year before.

How do I total library visits across several entrances, branches and buildings?

Add the entries from every public entrance of each service point, then follow your survey’s rule for combining service points.

ARL tells research libraries to include annexes and similar facilities if they provide public access. Ontario asks for one Typical Week Survey for each service point in the system. Kentucky’s 2025 reporting form fills in the system’s visit total automatically, as a read-only sum of the main library’s figure and the branch figures. ACRL covers mixed methods: if one of a library’s physical spaces uses an hourly head count instead of gate counts, that head count goes into the gate count line, with a note.

Two layouts need a decision of your own. If doors sit one behind the other, such as a vestibule or an inner gate behind the main door, count at only one of them, or each visitor is counted twice. If the library shares a lobby or a side door with another tenant, decide which crossings are library visits. In both cases, ask your state or provincial library how it wants them counted, and keep the answer with your counting records.

Do I divide a two-way library counter by two?

Halve a count only if your counter adds people going in and people going out into one number. Of the official sources checked, one documents halving: the New Brunswick Public Library Service, whose staff “divide the daily total by two” because people enter and exit the library (2019-20 annual report). New Brunswick defines its traffic figure as the number of times someone enters the library, compiled by a device that counts people automatically.

Halving also assumes that everyone who comes in through a counted door leaves through one. If people leave by an uncounted fire exit, staff door or a door into a shared building, half the combined count comes out low. Our article on directional and non-directional counting explains the difference.

Quebec’s instructions allow the count to be taken at the entrance or at the exit, by turnstile, electronic count or manual count. If your counter reports entries and exits separately, report the entries and there’s nothing to halve.

What mistakes distort a library visit count?

IMLS warns that visit figures can be thrown off by insufficient counting technology or by sample weeks that aren’t typical.

• Missing locations. In the 2018-19 CARL statistics, the University of Toronto noted that its gate count “reflects traffic from some but not all library locations.”
• Changing counters without a note. Lincoln City Libraries in Nebraska reported in December 2025 that visits year to date were down 8%, citing two causes: months of traffic disruption near one branch the year before, and a changeover to new door counters the director was told are more accurate than the old ones.
• Trusting old gates. At Utah State University in 1999, observers found both library gates undercounted the people passing through them by as much as 31% in a single half-hour period (College & Research Libraries News, 2000).
• Halving the wrong count. Dividing by two a figure that already counts only entries cuts the real total in half.

Does the library visit count affect funding?

In several places you can’t get funding without filing the survey, though the two funding formulas below allocate money by other measures. Alberta says library boards “must complete and submit the Public Library Survey and Annual Report to qualify for funding.” British Columbia asks the same of libraries that receive provincial grant funding, and the Ontario Library Service says libraries receiving provincial funding must complete the Annual Survey of Public Libraries. In Quebec, the survey “doit obligatoirement être remplie” for the ministry’s aid programs for public libraries (Institut de la statistique du Québec). Pennsylvania uses its required annual statistical report to decide who is eligible for state aid. Wisconsin law also requires library boards to file by March 1.

The federal IMLS Grants to States program allocates a base amount to each state library agency plus a supplemental amount based on population. Berks County, Pennsylvania splits 60% of its remaining 2026 county funds by circulation and 30% by computer use.

Visit counts can also show up in local budget talks. In July 2024, the Oxford Eagle reported that the library in Oxford, Mississippi had 78,974 visitors since October 1, 2023, according to Lori Barnes, director of the First Regional Library system. Barnes presented the annual report and the budget request to the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors. The City of Watauga, Texas lists library “visits per capita” as a performance measure in its FY2024 budget.

How we know

We’re SMS StoreTraffic, and we make people counters for libraries. We wrote this from the surveys’ own instructions, guidance and reports, each listed under Sources. Some of the advice is our judgment rather than a rule. That covers the staff-hour and multiplier arithmetic, which door of a vestibule to count, shared lobbies, when halving a two-way count works, and our tips on desk tallying, keeping one staff rule and noting counter changes. Some rules may also be out of date. Alberta’s multiplier of 50 comes from its 2015 guide, ARL’s instructions are the 2014-15 edition, and the one official halving rule we found is in New Brunswick’s 2019-20 annual report. If your current form says something different, follow the form.

Where we’d start

With one afternoon to improve a library’s visit count, we’d walk each building and list its public doors. A door nobody counts simply drops out of the total. The University of Toronto, for one, noted in its 2018-19 CARL statistics that its gate count reflected “some but not all library locations.”

Next, we’d count all year instead of sampling. A sample week needs someone tallying entries for every open hour, and its result moves with the multiplier: the same hypothetical 1,000-visit week is 52,000 visits a year under IMLS and 50,000 under Alberta’s 2015 guide.

Then we’d record any change of counters in the survey comments. Lincoln City Libraries reported visits down 8% and named new counters, which the director was told are more accurate, as one of two causes.

We’d leave the staff rule for last. Ontario and Quebec leave staff out, and Wisconsin’s IFLS system tells its libraries to count them during survey weeks. Follow the rule your survey sets and keep it the same every year, or the year-to-year comparison won’t hold.

Sources

Survey rules and figures are cited by name in the text. Dates are the publication date where the source gives one. Archived copies are Wayback Machine snapshots.

1. Public Libraries Survey Fiscal Year 2024: Data File Documentation and User’s Guide. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), 2026-06. www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/PublicLibrariesSurv…. Archived copy.
2. 2021 Annual Survey Questions (B.C. public libraries). Government of British Columbia, Libraries Branch (BC Data Catalogue), 2021. catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/d03007d6-d6c7-44d7-b2f8-710…. Archived copy.
3. 0459E – One Week Survey of Public Library Use (Typical Week Survey). Government of Ontario, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport (Central Forms Repository), 2014. forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca/dataset/d6109d47-db94-4437-88f3-a88305a…. Archived copy.
4. 2023 Public Library Survey and 2022 Annual Report – Reference Key. Alberta Municipal Affairs, Public Library Services Branch, 2023. libraryaware.com/2KBXMX. Archived copy.
5. Enquête annuelle sur les bibliothèques publiques 2024 : Définitions et directives. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), 2025-02-26. www.banq.qc.ca/sites/default/files/2025-04/EBP2024_Definitio…. Archived copy.
6. Companion Guide for the Preparation of the Public Library Survey and Annual Report of Public Libraries in Alberta. Alberta Municipal Affairs, Public Library Services Branch, 2015-01. open.alberta.ca/dataset/e86e92d7-45e1-40a5-aac8-30d3c97e93a0…. Archived copy.
7. Public Libraries Survey & Statistical Report of North Carolina Public Libraries: Report Instructions & Definitions, Fiscal Year 2025. State Library of North Carolina, undated. library.nc.gov/fy25-pls-instructions/download?attachment=. Archived copy.
8. Public library board survey and annual report. Government of Alberta, undated. www.alberta.ca/public-library-board-survey-and-annual-report…. Archived copy.
9. Public libraries reporting and accountability. Government of British Columbia, 2026-05-13. www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/sports-culture/arts-culture/publi…. Archived copy.
10. Funding & Grants. Ontario Library Service (OLS), undated. www.olservice.ca/funding-grants. Archived copy.
11. Methodological note – Enquête annuelle sur les bibliothèques publiques (EABP). Institut de la statistique du Québec, undated. statistique.quebec.ca/en/produit/publication/methodological-…. Archived copy.
12. State Aid to Public Libraries. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of Commonwealth Libraries, undated. www.pa.gov/agencies/statelibrary/library-development/funding…. Archived copy.
13. ARL Statistics 2014-2015, Questionnaire Instructions (page 65), Question 23 Gate Count. Association of Research Libraries (ARL), 2015. publications.arl.org/ARL-Statistics-2014-2015/71. Archived copy.
14. ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics Annual Survey 2025: Instructions & Definitions. Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), 2025-11-05. cdn.prod.website-files.com/623c7b7e68a61e41a472345e/69eb66be…. Archived copy.
15. 2025 Minnesota Public Library Annual Report: Guide to Data Elements. Minnesota Department of Education, State Library Services (via Counting Opinions LibPAS), undated. mn.countingopinions.com/docs/mn/2025_Guide_to_Data_Elements.…. Archived copy.
16. How many people come to the library? (SCC Library Answers). Sacramento City College Library, Los Rios Community College District, 2026-05-02. answers.library.losrios.edu/scc/faq/421950. Archived copy.
17. CARL Statistics 2018-2019 / Statistiques de l’ABRC 2018-2019. Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL-ABRC), 2023-10. www.carl-abrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CARL-ABRC_Stats_…. Archived copy.
18. Library Survey & Statistics (2026 Public Libraries Survey guide, Section G4). South Carolina State Library, undated. statelibrary.sc.gov/libraries-librarians/library-consulting/…. Archived copy.
19. FY26 Iowa Public Library General Information Survey Instructions, Section F: Circulation and Use Counts (F30 Door Count Annually). State Library of Iowa, undated. statelibraryofiowa.gov/fy26-iowa-public-library-general-info…. Archived copy.
20. The Annual Report – Survey Week Reminder and New Website Visits Element. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 2018-10-26. dpi.wi.gov/node/69861. Archived copy.
21. Annual Report resources. IFLS Library System, 2026-02-08. iflsweb.org/resource-portal/annual-report. Archived copy.
22. Webinar: Annual Report Sections H-J (handout). Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA), Library Development Branch, 2025-04-02. kdla.ky.gov/Library-Support/Library-Staff-Development/Docume…. Archived copy.
23. New Brunswick Public Libraries Annual Report 2019-2020. Government of New Brunswick, New Brunswick Public Library Service, 2020. www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/nbpl-sbpnb/pdf/annua…. Archived copy.
24. Director’s Report for December 2025. Lincoln City Libraries (Lincoln, Nebraska), 2025-12. www.lincolnlibraries.org/media/turn14w5/dirreport12-25.pdf. Archived copy.
25. What happens when counting gates can’t count? Creating a formula to correct inaccuracies. College & Research Libraries News (ACRL), Vol 61 No 10, 2000-11. crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/19970/23846. Archived copy.
26. Grants to States: State Allotment Data. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), undated. www.imls.gov/find-funding/funding-opportunities/grants-to-st…. Archived copy.
27. The Distribution of the 2026 Funding Formula (infographic). Berks County Public Libraries (BCPL) System Headquarters, 2026-01. www.berkslibraries.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/2026…. Archived copy.
28. 22 Pa. Code § 131.32. Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin (Legislative Reference Bureau), undated. www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode…. Archived copy.
29. Public Library Annual Report. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, undated. dpi.wi.gov/libraries/public-libraries/data-reporting/annual-…. Archived copy.
30. Library requests $500K+ for 2025 budget; Named fifth busiest in state. The Oxford Eagle, 2024-07-16. oxfordeagle.com/?p=154440. Archived copy.
31. City of Watauga Adopted Budget FY24, page 177 (Library performance measures). City of Watauga, Texas (via Tarrant County City Budgets), 2023. citybudgets.tarrantcounty.com/flipbook/CityBudgets/2024/Wata…. Archived copy.

SMS StoreTraffic makes people-counting systems. This article draws on public survey instructions and government sources.

By Raymond Casgrain, Marketing Lead, SMS StoreTraffic.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI tools; every claim was checked against its source and the article was reviewed and approved by Raymond Casgrain.