Boston Public Library
Boston Public Library is a nonprofit public library system based in Boston (Suffolk County), Massachusetts, serving a legal service area of 650,706 residents through 26 library buildings. Of all 8,561 systems profiled nationwide, it ranks second for print volumes.
Among the 354 profiled systems in Massachusetts, it leads on population served, total visits, physical checkouts and operating spending. Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks first for print volumes per resident, first for library floor space per resident and eighth for operating spending per resident, but ranks eighth-lowest for local government's share of operating revenue and records the steepest decline in visits since FY 2019.
Boston against the 61 systems of its size class
Boston, building by building
The 26 buildings cover 1,320,850 square feet in total, 2.03 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Boston Public Library at 970,000 square feet; the smallest is Chinatown Branch Library at 1,500. The longest hours are at Faneuil Branch Library, 47.2 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Public Library | Central library | Boston | – | 970,000 |
| Adams Street Branch Library | Branch | Dorchester | 46 | 13,450 |
| Brighton Branch Library | Branch | Brighton | 46 | 22,400 |
| Charlestown Branch Library | Branch | Charlestown | 44.4 | 10,300 |
| Chinatown Branch Library | Branch | Boston | 37.8 | 1,500 |
| Codman Square Branch Library | Branch | Dorchester | 44.8 | 22,000 |
| Connolly Branch Library | Branch | Jamaica Plain | 46 | 9,700 |
| East Boston Branch Library | Branch | East Boston | 46 | 15,000 |
| Egleston Square Branch Library | Branch | Roxbury | 40.6 | 6,800 |
| Faneuil Branch Library | Branch | Brighton | 47.2 | 11,700 |
| Fields Corner Branch Library | Branch | Dorchester | 45.8 | 9,700 |
| Grove Hall Branch Library | Branch | Dorchester | 44.7 | 21,000 |
| Honan-Allston Branch | Branch | Allston | 46 | 20,000 |
| Hyde Park Branch Library | Branch | Hyde Park | 46 | 23,000 |
| Jamaica Plain Branch Library | Branch | Jamaica Plain | 46 | 10,300 |
| Lower Mills Branch Library | Branch | Dorchester | 46 | 8,000 |
| Mattapan Branch Library | Branch | Mattapan | 46 | 21,000 |
| North End Branch Library | Branch | Boston | 46 | 8,200 |
| Parker Hill Branch Library | Branch | Roxbury | 46 | 10,200 |
| Roslindale Branch Library | Branch | Roslindale | 46 | 13,900 |
| Roxbury Branch | Branch | Roxbury | 45.9 | 21,000 |
| Roxbury Branch | Branch | Roxbury | 44 | 21,000 |
| South Boston Branch Library | Branch | South Boston | 45.5 | 10,700 |
| Uphams Corner Branch Library | Branch | Dorchester | 42.7 | 6,300 |
| West End Branch Library | Branch | Boston | 46 | 9,700 |
| West Roxbury Branch Library | Branch | West Roxbury | 43.4 | 24,000 |
A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.
Boston in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,368,865
- Physical checkouts
- 2,241,712
- …of children's materials
- 966,423
- Registered users
- 628,526
- Program sessions
- 14,337
- Program attendance
- 210,384
- Print volumes
- 6,721,731
- Audio items (physical)
- 16,108
- Video items (physical)
- 57,448
- Public computers
- 613
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 63,714
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 408.6
- Operating spending
- $57.3 million
- …on books and other materials
- $5.7 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Boston gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $66.3 million, or $101.85 per resident. The local-government share sits 13 percentage points below the combined share for the 354 profiled systems in Massachusetts. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Boston since FY 2019
Visits were 62% below the FY 2019 count of 3.6 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 21% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Boston programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 58% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 15 people each.
Nonprofit association libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, two record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Library of Philadelphia | Philadelphia, PA | 1,603,797 | 1.02 | 1.24 | $73.89 |
| Bucks County Free Library | Doylestown, PA | 507,641 | 1.83 | 3.09 | $18.64 |
| Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | 392,273 | 4.29 | 6.23 | $106.74 |
| Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library | Norristown, PA | 336,716 | 0.24 | 1.58 | $16.62 |
| Dauphin County Library System | Harrisburg, PA | 252,153 | 2.09 | 3.26 | $30.23 |
| Youngstown and Mahoning County, Pl of | Youngstown, OH | 226,005 | 2.98 | 4.64 | $89.08 |
Nearest in size within Massachusetts
- Worcester Public Library · Worcester · 205,319 residents
- Springfield City Library · Springfield · 154,064 residents
- Cambridge Public Library · Cambridge · 118,488 residents
- Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library · Lowell · 113,608 residents