Want another book with that?

There are more public libraries in the U.S. than McDonald's restaurants.

Mental Floss

More public libraries in the United States than McDonald's restaurants? This is one of those things, like the phrase "you may already be a winner," that you would like very much to believe but just seems too good to be true.

Many of us can remember when it certainly was true. In my youth the public library was about three miles away, a healthy bike ride. The nearest McDonald's was in Toledo, about 20 miles away, and we went there maybe once a year while on a major shopping trip, such as at Christmas. We must have passed several libraries to get there.

In the years since McDonald's restaurants have sprouted up everywhere, while the number of libraries probably hasn't changed much. My hometown now has a McDonald's but still just one public library. Ashland, Ohio, where I live half the year, has one library and two McDonald's. Largo, Fla., where I spend the other half of the year, has one public library and several McDonald's. There are still many towns too small to have a McDonald's, but they are also too small to have public libraries.

So how can Mental Floss possibly have it right?

It may depend upon what one counts as a "public library." Municipalities, and in some cases entire counties, have a single public library, but they may have several branch libraries. So does this count as one library or several? Does a bookmobile count as a separate library?

Ashland is home to Ashland University and Ashland Seminary, both of which have fine libraries available for public use. So do they count as public libraries?

Most public schools have libraries, or so I imagine. Does that make them public libraries too? Schools probably do outnumber McDonald's.

Unfortunately Mental Floss doesn't give the source of its intriguing little "fact" or explain what it means. We can only hope that it is, indeed, still true.