Yesterday and Today: SLJ Celebrates 50 Years
By Staff -- School Library Journal, 11/1/2004
Yesterday and Today
1954
2003
Total number of books published
11,901
146,371
Total number of children's books published
1,342
13,075
Total number of books reviewed by SLJ
838
4,193
Total amount spent on all books
$576 million
$23 billion
Total amount spent on children's books
$39 million
$1 billion
Average price of a hardcover book
$4.61
$35.24
Average price of a children's hardcover book
$2.50
$19.69
Total number of public schools (K–12)
136,512
93,273
Total number of librarians*
37,000
207,000
Public school enrollment (K–12)
29 million
47 million
Federal aid to elementary and secondary schools
355 million
55 billion
Total population
162 million
290 million
Percentage of households with TVs
56
98.2
Consumer spending per person on books, magazines, and newspapers
$34
$89
Average weekly attendance at movie theaters
49 million
30 million
Bestselling children's book
The Black Stallion's Sulky Colt by Walter Farley
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Number of copies sold
50,000
12,193,847
Note: all statistics are for U.S. only.
*There were no category breakouts in 1954.
