Bucks County Free Library
Bucks County Free Library is a nonprofit public library system based in Doylestown (Bucks County), Pennsylvania, serving a legal service area of 507,641 residents through seven library buildings. Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks seventh for weekly open hours per outlet, but ranks last for public computers per resident and fourth-lowest for local government's share of operating revenue.
Among the 435 profiled systems in Pennsylvania, it ranks second for population served, third for total visits, third for physical checkouts and third for operating spending. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 39% of the operating spending per resident and only 45% of the paid staff per resident.
Bucks County against the 61 systems of its size class
Bucks County, building by building
The seven buildings cover 146,107 square feet in total, 0.29 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Bucks County Free Library at 50,000 square feet; the smallest is Samuel Pierce Branch Library at 8,000. The longest hours are at Bucks County Free Library, 69 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucks County Free Library | Central library | Doylestown | 69 | 50,000 |
| Bensalem Library | Branch | Bensalem | 57 | 13,620 |
| James A Michener Branch Library | Branch | Quakertown | 61 | 25,000 |
| Levittown Regional Library | Branch | Levittown | 61 | 20,000 |
| Pennwood Branch Library | Branch | Langhorne | 57 | 14,487 |
| Samuel Pierce Branch Library | Branch | Perkasie | 57 | 8,000 |
| Yardley Makefield Branch Library | Branch | Yardley | 61 | 15,000 |
Bucks County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 926,475
- Physical checkouts
- 1,570,327
- …of children's materials
- 741,384
- Electronic checkouts
- 500,537
- …of e-books
- 220,074
- …of e-audio
- 256,448
- Registered users
- 138,935
- Program sessions
- 3,156
- Program attendance
- 67,377
- Print volumes
- 291,714
- Audio items (physical)
- 15,993
- Video items (physical)
- 49,179
- Public computers
- 75
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 21,996
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 94.5
- Operating spending
- $9.5 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Bucks County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $10.9 million, or $21.54 per resident. The local-government share sits 8 percentage points below the combined share for the 435 profiled systems in Pennsylvania. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Bucks County since FY 2019
Visits were 18% below the FY 2019 count of 1.1 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 25% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Bucks County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 48% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 21 people each.
Closest in size nationwide
Of these six systems, two record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Great River Regional Library in Minnesota.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa Public Library | Mesa, AZ | 524,892 | 1.24 | 3.04 | $16.78 |
| Great River Regional Library | St. Cloud, MN | 515,855 | 2.19 | 4.53 | $19.03 |
| West Georgia Regional Library | Carrollton, GA | 510,050 | 1.34 | 2.06 | $16.52 |
| Morris County Library | Whippany, NJ | 509,285 | 0.24 | 0.51 | $15.21 |
| Washoe County Library System | Reno, NV | 508,759 | 1.48 | 2.64 | $30.63 |
| Knox County Public Library System | Knoxville, TN | 500,669 | 2.07 | 4.34 | $30.08 |
Nearest in size within Pennsylvania
- Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh · Pittsburgh · 392,273 residents
- Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library · Norristown · 336,716 residents
- York County Library System, Pennsylvania · York · 282,763 residents
- Dauphin County Library System · Harrisburg · 252,153 residents