Public libraries are funded by a mix of local taxes, state grants, and federal programs

The federal government distributes more than $160M in grants directly to libraries each year

The Institute of Museum and Library Services distributes funds annually to State Library Administrative Agencies, which support statewide initiatives and channel funds to public and academic libraries.

Virtually all public libraries in the US offer free internet access

Beyond providing internet access, libraries have also expanded into broad digital hubs for communities. Ninety percent offer basic digital literacy training, 76% help patrons navigate online government services, and 73% assist people with job applications.

See how local, state, and federal governments divide the cost of public services

Federal, state, and local governments share responsibility for funding public services. Education, roads, and social programs are funded through a complicated mix of taxes and intergovernmental transfers.

The federal government sent roughly $1.1T to state and local governments in 2024

Federal grants support a large portion of state and local budgets, funding Medicaid, infrastructure, education, and housing. In FY 2024, these transfers made up about 16% of total federal spending.

Police spending is one of the largest budget items for local governments

Local governments finance most of the costs for police in the US. Total state and local criminal justice spending—covering police, courts, and corrections—reaches hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

Private K-12 schools rely on tuition; colleges rely on funding for research

Tuition, endowments, donors, and grants often fund private schools, allowing them to eschew national curriculum standards. Private colleges and universities also charge tuition, but often rely on federal funding for research.

Explore the unexpected ways people use public libraries in this 'This American Life' episode

Libraries serve as far more than book repositories. This episode follows a family experiencing homelessness that spent months living in their local library, Iranian students reuniting with family across the US-Canada border because the library straddled both countries, and a Vermont man who built his own library to house unpublished manuscripts.

Circulating libraries helped the novel's popularity surge

As literacy rates began to rise in the 19th century, so did the demand for reading materials. The only problem? Newspapers and books weren’t cheap, and newly literate middle-class families struggled to afford literature. That changed when booksellers began offering small fees for patrons who decided to borrow rather than purchase books. This was eventually called a circulating library, an innovation that would satisfy the burgeoning readership of novels and increase literacy rates further.

Andrew Carnegie donated $56M to build 2,509 public libraries worldwide

Carnegie, who left school at 12 and credited borrowed books for his self-education, began funding libraries in 1881. Of the 2,509 libraries built, 1,681 were in the United States. He required each community to maintain the library as a condition of his gift.

Benjamin Franklin donated the books that became the first true public library in the US

In 1778, the town of Franklin, Massachusetts—named in his honor—asked Benjamin Franklin for a bell, but he donated a book collection instead, saying "sense" was more important than "sound." Residents voted in 1790 to make the books freely available to all, creating the nation's first public library.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

Before the 16th Amendment, US tax law required direct taxes to be directly apportioned to a state's population

Due to these requirements, the federal government could not impose many direct taxes. Direct taxes include property and income taxes, whereas indirect taxes include duties and excises.

Gambling funded America's early expansion

In the colonial era, lotteries were viewed as a voluntary tax to help fund infrastructure and capital projects. The idea came from Europe, which had used lotteries dating back to the 16th century. The image below is from a Massachusetts lottery in 1758.

A sociologist makes the case for libraries and parks as essential public infrastructure

Eric Klinenberg argues that social infrastructure that brings people together is as vital to a community as roads or power grids. He contends that when communities invest in these spaces, residents grow more connected, and when they are neglected, isolation follows.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program provides free books to kids

Parton launched the program in 1995 to benefit children in Tennessee by providing a free book every month. It began expanding across the country in 2000 and was eventually adopted in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The organization claims to provide over 1 million books to children every month.

Most pensions are subject to federal income taxes

Those taxes kick in once someone starts taking distributions from their pension. Whether a pension is subject to state income taxes depends on the state and other factors. Learn more about how pensions are taxed in this article.

As of 2025, the Wikimedia Foundation funds 14 open-source, free knowledge projects

Since its founding in 2003, the nonprofit has provided financial, legal, and infrastructure support to Wikipedia and its sister projects (e.g., Wikinews), primarily by managing donations, which average $11, from readers. Additional funding comes from gifts exceeding $1,000, the Wikimedia Endowment, and providing Wikipedia content for commercial use.

The federal government pumped $70 billion into transit amidst reduced ridership during the COVID pandemic

When ridership collapsed by 75% in the spring of 2020, Congress sent transit agencies nearly $70B to help them survive. But that money has largely run out, and ridership remains 14-28% below prepandemic levels, leaving many transit systems with large budget deficits.

Most US fire departments are staffed entirely by volunteers, though they tend to serve smaller communities

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 2024 registry, 70% of US fire departments are all volunteer, while 9.5% are fully staffed with paid employees. Volunteer departments are mainly found in rural and suburban areas, whereas most urban Americans are served by career or mixed departments.

A librarian stole $8M worth of rare books from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library over 25 years

Greg Priore, who managed the library's rare book collection, systematically removed maps and prints and sold them through a local bookseller. He was eventually caught during a routine audit and sentenced to three years of house arrest.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

In 2021, Social Security began drawing down trust fund reserves to help pay for benefits

The Social Security trust funds are invested solely in US Treasury bonds. Any Social Security tax revenue surplus has historically been invested in these bonds, which are non-marketable securities available only to trust funds. The interest on these investments also contributes to program income.

Americans spend an average of $200 on tax preparation services like TurboTax and H&R Block

In 2025, about half of Americans were able to file taxes directly with the IRS for free. It was the second year of the agency's new program, which cuts out intermediaries. Though tax preparation has been free for many Americans, critics say tax companies upsell customers.

Certain home renovations, such as installing an in-ground pool, could increase your property taxes

Significant home improvement projects like adding another bathroom or an addition might raise your tax bill if they significantly increase the value of your home. The amount your tax bill could increase by depends on how tax assessment procedures work in the home’s location, as they vary by locality.

How much do you pay in gas taxes?

The average national price jumped from $3.02 to $4.12 per gallon between March and April in 2026, but state prices range widely, from $3.66 in Texas to $5.79 in California, driven by differences in taxes, proximity to supply, and local competition.

States have stepped in to keep national parks open during shutdowns

National parks typically close during federal shutdowns, but in 2023, Arizona and Utah planned to use state funds to keep parks open—highlighting how shutdowns can disrupt tourism and local economies.

While the Fed is involved in issuing new generations of cash, the way it adds to the money supply does not involve printers

The majority of money in circulation is credit, not cash. This credit, which acts similarly to direct deposit from employers, is added to bank accounts by the Federal Reserve. The Fed also employs tools like the federal funds rate and open market operations to expand or contract credit.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.