Chandler Public Library
Chandler Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Chandler (Maricopa County), Arizona, serving a legal service area of 286,342 residents through four library buildings. Among profiled systems in Arizona, it ranks third for program attendance, fourth for total visits, sixth for population served and sixth for physical checkouts.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 73% more program attendance per resident and 37% fewer print volumes per resident.
Chandler against the 122 systems of its size class
Chandler since FY 2019
Visits were 26% below the FY 2019 count of 926,839 (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 7% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Chandler programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 48% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 24 people each.
Chandler in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 684,234
- Physical checkouts
- 1,394,876
- …of children's materials
- 698,156
- Electronic checkouts
- 356,535
- …of e-books
- 206,886
- …of e-audio
- 121,236
- Registered users
- 119,870
- Program sessions
- 4,162
- Program attendance
- 99,224
- Print volumes
- 224,017
- Audio items (physical)
- 5,141
- Video items (physical)
- 14,574
- Public computers
- 257
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 11,812
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 61.8
- Operating spending
- $6.7 million
- …on books and other materials
- $623,431
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Chandler gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $7.5 million, or $26.25 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 53 profiled systems in Arizona.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Chandler, building by building
The four buildings cover 123,974 square feet in total, 0.43 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Downtown Library at 64,000 square feet; the smallest is Hamilton Library at 18,000. The longest hours, 58.4 a week, are shared by two buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown Library | Central library | Chandler | 58.4 | 64,000 |
| Basha Library | Branch | Chandler | 55.2 | 20,499 |
| Hamilton Library | Branch | Chandler | 55.2 | 18,000 |
| Sunset Library | Branch | Chandler | 58.4 | 21,475 |
Municipal 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 Plano Public Library System in Texas.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Lubbock Public Library | Lubbock, TX | 299,167 | 1.15 | 1.86 | $13.85 |
| Jersey City Free Public Library | Jersey City, NJ | 292,449 | 1.93 | 1.27 | $53.01 |
| Plano Public Library System | Plano, TX | 290,190 | 5.96 | 8.58 | $53.97 |
| Chula Vista Public Library | Chula Vista, CA | 278,247 | 0.54 | 1.58 | $11.04 |
Nearest in size within Arizona
- Glendale Public Library · Glendale · 260,878 residents
- Yavapai County Free Library District · Prescott · 251,768 residents
- Scottsdale Public Library · Scottsdale · 249,935 residents
- Mohave County Library District · Kingman · 228,107 residents