In January 2003, there were 1166 libraries in Estonia of which

• 83 were research and speciality libraries;
• 560 were public libraries; and
• 523 were school libraries.

Last year 803.079 users, 11.4 million visits and 18.7 million loans were recorded in libraries. The majority of visits (57%) and loans were made in public libraries. Library collections consist of more than 76 million documents and 4.2 million documents are purchased annually. In total, 3.027 librarians are employed in Estonian libraries.
Libraries form a well-functioning network. The Ministry of Culture allocates support to public libraries for the purchase of books and documents. The Ministry also covers a part of staff costs for county libraries and provides financing for the purchase of inventory and the development of IT projects. The Ministry is also the initiator of the ´internetisation´ project of public libraries.

In the last decade, the following library related legal acts have been drafted in the Ministry of Culture:
The Public Library Act 1992 (amended in 1998 and 2000);
The National Library Act; and
The Compulsory Copy Act.

The Public Library Council operating at the Ministry of Culture is an advisory body whose task is to coordinate the activity and development of public library issues.