The bane of library history? Library statistics and their uses in the nineteenth-century Western world

Library statistics predating the 1870s, although rudimentary by modern standards, are nevertheless worthy of scholarly attention. Despite the shortcomings of early library statistics, we can profitably enquire into the ends they served in the pre-professional era, how these ends differed across nations, and how they evolved over time. This contribution traces the development of library statistics in nineteenth-century Western Europe and North America, beginning in 1823 with an encyclopaedia article by the German librarian Friedrich Adolf Ebert and ending with the American Bureau of Education’s seminal report on public libraries from 1876. The article explores cross-cultural connections between statistical contributions on libraries in the nineteenth century as well as highlighting differing and evolving national approaches to library statistics and their uses during this period.