„Stan bibliotek w Polsce” to nowa seria raportów Biblioteki Narodowej, prezentująca dane statystyczne na temat bibliotek w Polsce: publicznych, naukowych, pedagogicznych, szkolnych, ale również bibliotek towarzystw naukowych, ośrodków informacji naukowej, technicznej i ekonomicznej, fachowych i fachowo-beletrystycznych, parafialnych czy więziennych. „Libraries in Poland. The 2012 Report” is the 42-nd yearbook of this series (previously published as “Public Libraries in Figures”). Along with the change of title, the content was also extended. This publication now analyses the current situation of not only public libraries, but also other types of libraries operating in Poland. The main source of information about libraries in Poland are the data gathered by the Chief Statistical Office of Poland (GUS). In 2011-2012, its substantive and objective scope was extended, which enabled the analysis and description of the most of the libraries operating in Poland (public, research, trade, trade and fiction, libraries of the centers for scientific, technical and economic information, as well as libraries of scientific societies). The data on school libraries were obtained from the System of Educational Information (SIO), whereas the data on the activity of other libraries (e.g. prison libraries, church libraries) were extracted from the results of research conducted outside of the official statistics, which was often irregular and based on inhomogeneous methodology.