Boise Public Library
Boise Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Boise (Ada County), Idaho, serving a legal service area of 243,657 residents through five library buildings. Among the 103 profiled systems in Idaho, it leads on population served, total visits, physical checkouts and operating spending.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.2 times the physical checkouts per resident and 2.2 times the operating spending per resident.
Boise against the 360 systems of its size class
Boise, building by building
The five buildings cover 131,374 square feet in total, 0.54 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Boise Public Library at 79,381 square feet; the smallest is Boise Public-Hillcrest Branch at 8,624. The longest hours are at Boise Public Library, 54.1 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise Public Library | Central library | Boise | 54.1 | 79,381 |
| Boise Public-Bown Crossing Branch | Branch | Boise | 48.2 | 15,900 |
| Boise Public-Cole and Ustick Branch | Branch | Boise | 48.2 | 15,300 |
| Boise Public-Collister Branch | Branch | Boise | 48.2 | 12,169 |
| Boise Public-Hillcrest Branch | Branch | Boise | 48.2 | 8,624 |
Boise in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 712,345
- Physical checkouts
- 1,654,153
- …of children's materials
- 800,340
- Electronic checkouts
- 970,800
- …of e-books
- 360,626
- …of e-audio
- 487,293
- Registered users
- 112,839
- Program sessions
- 3,203
- Program attendance
- 81,896
- Print volumes
- 316,963
- Audio items (physical)
- 9,473
- Video items (physical)
- 18,800
- Public computers
- 102
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 12,846
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 108.8
- Operating spending
- $17.9 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1.8 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Boise gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $17.4 million, or $71.51 per resident. The local-government share sits 9 percentage points above the combined share for the 103 profiled systems in Idaho. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Boise since FY 2019
Visits were 54% below the FY 2019 count of 1.5 million (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 25% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Boise programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 70% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 26 people each.
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, one records more visits per resident than this one. None of them matches this system's checkouts per resident.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irving Public Library | Irving, TX | 254,373 | 1.83 | 4.35 | $29.10 |
| Chesapeake Public Library | Chesapeake, VA | 250,256 | 2.64 | 3.77 | $49.47 |
| Scottsdale Public Library | Scottsdale, AZ | 249,935 | 2.39 | 5.74 | $33.53 |
| Nicholson Memorial Library System | Garland, TX | 243,470 | 1.09 | 1.41 | $24.65 |
| Norfolk Public Library | Norfolk, VA | 238,102 | 2.09 | 1.63 | $59.84 |
| Spokane Public Library | Spokane, WA | 233,000 | 5.44 | 2.61 | $58.74 |
Nearest in size within Idaho
- Meridian District · Meridian · 147,406 residents
- Community Library Network · Post Falls · 136,100 residents
- Nampa Public · Nampa · 115,008 residents
- Caldwell Public · Caldwell · 70,901 residents