Arlington Public Library System
Arlington Public Library System is a municipal public library system based in Arlington (Tarrant County), Texas, serving a legal service area of 398,431 residents through seven library buildings. Among the 503 profiled systems in Texas, it ranks ninth for total visits, tenth for population served, tenth for operating spending and tenth for number of library buildings.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 31% less program attendance per resident and 30% fewer paid staff per resident.
Arlington against the 122 systems of its size class
Arlington since FY 2019
Visits were 31% below the FY 2019 count of 1.1 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 27% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Arlington programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 48% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 24 people each.
Arlington in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 744,181
- Physical checkouts
- 1,200,379
- …of children's materials
- 614,831
- Electronic checkouts
- 450,947
- …of e-books
- 161,784
- …of e-audio
- 195,264
- Registered users
- 135,433
- Program sessions
- 2,239
- Program attendance
- 54,553
- Print volumes
- 375,982
- Audio items (physical)
- 16,399
- Video items (physical)
- 34,947
- Public computers
- 278
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 21,216
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 87.0
- Operating spending
- $10.3 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Arlington gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $10.3 million, or $25.95 per resident. The local-government share sits 4 percentage points below the combined share for the 503 profiled systems in Texas. Federal money made up 5.9% of the total.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Arlington, building by building
The seven buildings cover 143,864 square feet in total, 0.36 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Arlington Public Library System at 80,000 square feet; the smallest is Woodland West Branch Library at 8,100. The longest hours are at Arlington Public Library System, 70 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington Public Library System | Central library | Arlington | 70 | 80,000 |
| East Library and Recreation Center | Branch | Arlington | 58 | 9,554 |
| Lake Arlington Branch Library | Branch | Arlington | 56 | 10,000 |
| Northeast Branch Library | Branch | Arlington | 56 | 10,000 |
| Southeast Branch Library | Branch | Arlington | 56 | 15,000 |
| Southwest Branch Library | Branch | Arlington | 56 | 11,210 |
| Woodland West Branch Library | Branch | Arlington | 56 | 8,100 |
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, four record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Madison Public Library in Wisconsin.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newark Public Library | Newark, NJ | 311,549 | 0.86 | 0.21 | $45.03 |
| Saint Paul Public Library | Saint Paul, MN | 310,997 | 4.09 | 5.86 | $72.47 |
| Santa Ana Public Library | Santa Ana, CA | 310,797 | 0.36 | 0.52 | $25.96 |
| Madison Public Library | Madison, WI | 304,881 | 4.50 | 7.12 | $73.59 |
| Jersey City Free Public Library | Jersey City, NJ | 292,449 | 1.93 | 1.27 | $53.01 |
| Chandler Public Library | Chandler, AZ | 286,342 | 2.39 | 4.87 | $23.55 |
Nearest in size within Texas
- Brazoria County Library System · Angleton · 398,938 residents
- Corpus Christi Public Libraries · Corpus Christi · 316,595 residents
- Lubbock Public Library · Lubbock · 299,167 residents
- Plano Public Library System · Plano · 290,190 residents