By the Numbers: National Parks

400
Approximate number of libraries operated by the National Park Service (NPS).

3.5 million
Number of materials housed in the NPS History Collection at the Harpers Ferry (W.Va.) Center for Media Services. The collection includes art, documents, photos, sound recordings, uniforms, and other objects.

25
Number of parks represented in the Open Parks Network, a collaboration between Clemson (S.C.) University and NPS, funded by the ­Institute of Museum and Library Services, to digitize archival materials from parks and other historical sites. The collaboration has so far digitized more than 350,000 objects and 1.5 million pages.

1923
Year that Yosemite Research Library (YRL) began acquiring its collection. One of the oldest NPS libraries, YRL—located within Yosemite National Park in California—has more than 10,000 books.

3,100
Number of preserved plants in the herbarium at Zion National Park in Utah. The herbarium, a library of pressed botanical materials endemic to the region, includes samples collected as early as the 1920s.

8
Number of items packed in Teton County (Wyo.) Library’s wildlife kits. Each kit is available for checkout and includes a backpack, binoculars, and a field guide to Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

12
Number of books written by naturalist John Muir, also known as the Father of the National Parks. Muir’s efforts helped create the Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, Petrified Forest, Sequoia, and Yosemite national parks.

2026
Projected completion year of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library—located just outside Theodore Roosevelt National Park—in Medora, North Dakota. Known as the “conservationist president,” Roosevelt set aside approximately 230 million acres of public land while in office.