libraryapi

Official Python SDK for libraryapi.dev — US public library facility, hours, services, and statistics data from the federal IMLS Public Libraries Survey. 9,252 systems · 17,586 outlets · FY 2023.

Install

pip install libraryapi-sdk

Note on naming: libraryapi is taken on PyPI by an unrelated project. The install name is libraryapi-sdk; the Python import name is libraryapi.

Requires Python 3.9+. Only dependency is httpx.

Quickstart

from libraryapi import LibraryAPI

client = LibraryAPI(api_key="sk_live_...")  # https://libraryapi.dev/pricing

# Nearest outlets to an address
outlets = client.outlets.near(
    address="14901 Dale Evans Pkwy, Apple Valley, CA",
    radius_miles=10,
)
for o in outlets:
    print(f"{o.distance_miles:.2f} mi  {o.name}  ({o.weekly_hours} hrs/wk)")

# Full parent-system profile (collections, usage, programs, finance)
system = client.libraries.fetch(outlets[0].fscs_id)
print(system.name)                              # San Bernardino County Library
print(system.service_area.population)           # 1,263,869
print(system.finance.total_revenue)             # 28,327,522
print(system.usage.programs.attendance_total)   # 166,411

# State-level rollup
ca = client.states.summary("CA")
print(ca.totals.library_systems, ca.totals.outlets)  # 186 1192

Async

import asyncio
from libraryapi import AsyncLibraryAPI

async def main():
    async with AsyncLibraryAPI(api_key="sk_live_...") as client:
        outlets = await client.outlets.near(address="350 Fifth Ave, New York, NY")
        for o in outlets:
            print(o.name)

asyncio.run(main())

Errors

from libraryapi import LibraryAPI, NotFoundError, RateLimitError, QuotaExceededError

try:
    client.libraries.fetch("ZZ9999")
except NotFoundError:
    print("library system not found")
except QuotaExceededError:
    print("monthly quota reached")
except RateLimitError:
    print("slow down — too many requests per minute")

Exception hierarchy: LibraryAPIError → {AuthenticationError, InvalidParamsError, QuotaExceededError, NotFoundError, RateLimitError}.

API surface

Convenience properties

• Outlet.weekly_hours — round(annual_hours / weeks_open)

Links

• libraryapi.dev
• API reference
• Pricing
• LLM-friendly reference
• Status
• GitHub