Benchmark: Library Metrics and Trends
Benchmark makes data-driven planning and advocacy easy for academic and public libraries. Log in to complete surveys, explore interactive charts, and compare your data with peers.
Academic libraries: Use your IPEDS ID as your user ID to log in.
Contact acrlbenchmark@ala.org with questions.
Public libraries in the US should use their FSCS Key as their ID.
Contact plabenchmark@ala.org with questions
Using Benchmark is easy!
  • Analyze trends in expenditures, staffing, collections, services, and other data.
  • Illustrate ongoing activities and usage in a compelling fashion for different audiences.
  • Generate key metrics for strategic planning, budget justifications, annual reports, fundraising, and more.
  • Contribute your library's data to national surveys to further research and advocacy.
Featured Resources

  • Data Dashboards Dashboard Resources ACRL
    Learn how how to navigate the dashboards, including interpreting the visualizations, navigating dashboard tabs, applying filters, viewing tooltips, and using drill through.
  • Getting Started with Benchmark Dashboard Resources ACRL
    Learn how Benchmark can provide your institution with data visualizations that facilitate comparisons with customized peer groups, Carnegie classes, and nationwide data.
  • The State of U.S. Academic Libraries: Findings from the ACRL 2023 Annual Survey Survey Resources ACRL
  • Benchmarking Interpreting the Data PLA
    Making effective peer comparisons for planning and advocacy.
  • Benchmark video tutorials Tutorials PLA
    Learn how to make the most of Benchmark's features and peer comparison data for your library in this series of twelve short videos.
  • Public Library Use Cases Interpreting the Data PLA
    Four use cases demonstrating how libraries could use Benchmark in practice (published June 2023).
Free access includes:
  • View select data visualizations with peer comparisons
  • Complete open surveys and see past survey responses
  • Manage contact information
  • Access data-related resources
Subscribe for access to:
  • A robust set of interactive data dashboards with visualizations and filters
  • A custom report builder that includes historic metrics
  • The ability to create custom peer groups for benchmarking
Academic library subscriptions
Public library subscriptions