librarysystems

Brooklyn Public Library

Brooklyn, New YorkKings CountyNonprofit association libraryLarge cityFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Brooklyn Public Library is a nonprofit public library system based in Brooklyn (Kings County), New York, serving a legal service area of 2,736,074 residents through 54 library buildings and three bookmobiles. Of all systems profiled nationwide, it ranks second for public computers, third for total visits, fourth for program attendance and fifth for operating spending.

Among profiled systems in New York, it ranks second for electronic checkouts, third for physical checkouts, third for number of library buildings and third for print volumes. Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks fifth for public computers per resident and eighth for operating spending per resident and records the fifth-smallest decline in visits since FY 2019 and the ninth-smallest decline in physical checkouts since FY 2019, but ranks fifth-lowest for local government's share of operating revenue and ninth-lowest for weekly open hours per outlet.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

Brooklyn against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.19Visitsper resident59th percentile2.05Checkoutsper resident27th percentile$58.15Spendingper resident79th percentile0.92Print volumesper resident44th percentile240Program visitsper 1,000 people63rd percentile11.5Computersper 10,000 people87th percentile42.4Open hoursper outlet a week28th percentile3.7Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people61st percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.1959th pct.Checkouts per resident2.0527th pct.Spending per resident$58.1579th pct.Print volumes per resident0.9244th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people24063rd pct.Computers per 10,000 people11.587th pct.Open hours per outlet a week42.428th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people3.761st pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Brooklyn, building by building

The 54 buildings cover 964,548 square feet in total, 0.35 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Brooklyn Public Library at 300,000 square feet; the smallest is Fort Hamilton at 4,836. The longest hours are at Brooklyn Public Library, 63.5 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Brooklyn Public LibraryCentral libraryBrooklyn63.5300,000
Adams StreetBranchBrooklyn45.56,700
ArlingtonBranchBrooklyn4617,400
Bay RidgeBranchBrooklyn46.115,880
Brighton BeachBranchBrooklyn45.712,675
Brooklyn HeightsBranchBrooklyn4848,200
Brower ParkBranchBrooklyn45.46,000
BrownsvilleBranchBrooklyn4610,550
BushwickBranchBrooklyn45.710,640
CanarsieBranchBrooklyn45.78,250
Center for Brooklyn HistoryBranchBrooklyn43.523,545
Clinton HillBranchBrooklyn45.77,500
Coney IslandBranchBrooklyn45.612,380
CortelyouBranchBrooklyn45.47,500
Crown HeightsBranchBrooklyn45.69,280
Cypress HillsBranchBrooklyn46.27,500
DekalbBranchBrooklyn45.612,360
DykerBranchBrooklyn45.77,500
East FlatbushBranchBrooklyn45.816,000
Eastern ParkwayBranchBrooklyn45.812,000
FlatbushBranchBrooklyn45.522,560
FlatlandsBranchBrooklyn45.715,000
Fort HamiltonBranchBrooklyn46.34,836
Gerritsen BeachBranchBrooklyn43.810,000
GravesendBranchBrooklyn45.77,500
GreenpointBranchBrooklyn47.47,500
HighlawnBranchBrooklyn45.97,500
HomecrestBranchBrooklyn45.67,000
Jamaica BayBranchBrooklyn46.27,500
KensingtonBranchBrooklyn45.710,540
Kings BayBranchBrooklyn45.713,500
Kings HighwayBranchBrooklyn47.424,700
MaconBranchBrooklyn47.812,960
MarcyBranchBrooklyn45.77,500
McKinley ParkBranchBrooklyn45.77,425
MidwoodBranchBrooklyn47.314,218
Mill BasinBranchBrooklyn46.37,500
New LotsBranchBrooklyn47.225,629
New UtrechtBranchBrooklyn45.623,250
PacificBranchBrooklyn45.514,970
PaerdegatBranchBrooklyn46.17,225
Park SlopeBranchBrooklyn45.915,942
Red HookBranchBrooklyn23.47,500
RugbyBranchBrooklyn46.39,000
SaratogaBranchBrooklyn45.410,690
Sheepshead BayBranchBrooklyn45.77,475
Spring CreekBranchBrooklyn45.77,500
Stone AvenueBranchBrooklyn45.814,252
Sunset ParkBranchBrooklyn45.620,700
Ulmer ParkBranchBrooklyn45.67,666
Walt WhitmanBranchBrooklyn45.49,825
Washington IrvingBranchBrooklyn45.49,825
WilliamsburghBranchBrooklyn45.426,000
Windsor TerraceBranchBrooklyn45.67,500
Bookmobile (Transit Van)BookmobileBrooklyn9.9
KidsmobileBookmobileBrooklyn6.3
TechmobileBookmobileBrooklyn2.9

Brooklyn in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
5,989,987
Physical checkouts
5,603,039
…of children's materials
2,909,755
Electronic checkouts
3,775,154
…of e-books
2,207,874
…of e-audio
1,524,340
Registered users
658,711
Program sessions
40,242
Program attendance
657,602
Print volumes
2,508,144
Audio items (physical)
9,457
Video items (physical)
169,428
Public computers
3,141
Public service hours, all outlets
125,739
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
1,002.8
Operating spending
$159 million
…on books and other materials
$9.3 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Brooklyn gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $174 million, or $63.46 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 754 profiled systems in New York. Federal money made up 1.1% of the total.

This system81%All profiled systems in New York81%
This system81%All profiled systems in New York81%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Brooklyn since FY 2019

Visits were 22% below the FY 2019 count of 7.7 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 11% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 10060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 10060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Brooklyn programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 56% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 16 people each.

Children 0–11367,188Young adults 12–1871,075Adults 19+219,339
Children 0–11367,188Young adults 12–1871,075Adults 19+219,339

Closest in size nationwide

Of these six systems, one records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Chicago Public Library in Illinois.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
LA County LibraryDowney, CA3,248,2851.701.70$60.09
Chicago Public LibraryChicago, IL2,746,3881.773.86$46.01
Miami-Dade Public Library SystemMiami, FL2,406,2991.521.24$38.92
Queens Borough Public LibraryJamaica, NY2,405,4642.712.64$62.46
Houston Public LibraryHouston, TX2,314,1570.921.41$21.39
Harris County Public LibraryHouston, TX2,281,1731.113.58$16.75

Nearest in size within New York

All profiled systems in New York