librarysystems

Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Cincinnati, OhioHamilton CountyCounty libraryLarge cityFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library is a county public library system based in Cincinnati (Hamilton County), Ohio, serving a legal service area of 830,639 residents through 41 library buildings. Of all systems profiled nationwide, it ranks first for physical checkouts, fifth for print volumes and fifth for electronic checkouts.

Among the 249 profiled systems in Ohio, it ranks first for number of library buildings, first for public computers, second for population served and second for total visits. Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks first for physical checkouts per resident, second for print volumes per resident, second for public computers per resident and third for visits per resident, but ranks second-lowest for local government's share of operating revenue.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 500,000 to 999,999

Cincinnati and Hamilton County against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class4.93Visitsper resident96th percentile15.3Checkoutsper resident99th percentile$87.83Spendingper resident86th percentile4.67Print volumesper resident98th percentile447Program visitsper 1,000 people89th percentile15.4Computersper 10,000 people98th percentile56.0Open hoursper outlet a week79th percentile8.9Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people94th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident4.9396th pct.Checkouts per resident15.399th pct.Spending per resident$87.8386th pct.Print volumes per resident4.6798th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people44789th pct.Computers per 10,000 people15.498th pct.Open hours per outlet a week56.079th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people8.994th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Cincinnati and Hamilton County since FY 2019

Visits were 27% below the FY 2019 count of 5.6 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 25% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 1005060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 1005060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Cincinnati and Hamilton County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 63% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 26 people each.

Children 0–11234,266Young adults 12–189,402Adults 19+25,160General interest102,482
Children 0–11234,266Young adults 12–189,402Adults 19+25,160General interest102,482

Cincinnati and Hamilton County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
4,091,256
Physical checkouts
12,740,499
…of children's materials
5,353,320
Electronic checkouts
7,385,687
…of e-books
3,533,006
…of e-audio
3,199,303
Registered users
396,190
Program sessions
14,245
Program attendance
371,310
Print volumes
3,880,302
Audio items (physical)
212,018
Video items (physical)
312,248
Public computers
1,276
Public service hours, all outlets
119,318
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
739.5
Operating spending
$73 million
…on books and other materials
$11.9 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Cincinnati and Hamilton County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $94.1 million, or $113.28 per resident. The local-government share sits 7 percentage points below the combined share for the 248 profiled systems in Ohio. No federal operating revenue was reported.

This system41%52%All profiled systems in Ohio48%43%
This system41%52%All profiled systems in Ohio48%43%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Cincinnati and Hamilton County, building by building

The 41 buildings cover 991,153 square feet in total, 1.19 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Pl of at 550,000 square feet; the smallest is Elmwood Place at 1,596. The longest hours, 64 a week, are shared by three buildings.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Pl ofCentral libraryCincinnati54550,000
AndersonBranchCincinnati6016,650
AvondaleBranchCincinnati5412,900
Blue AshBranchBlue Ash6012,280
Bond HillBranchCincinnati5412,000
CheviotBranchCheviot547,250
CliftonBranchCincinnati5810,000
College HillBranchCincinnati548,100
CorryvilleBranchCincinnati5410,685
CovedaleBranchCincinnati549,410
Deer ParkBranchDeer Park6424,934
Delhi TownshipBranchCincinnati6015,150
Elmwood PlaceBranchCincinnati541,596
Forest ParkBranchForest Park54.326,600
Green TownshipBranchCincinnati6015,714
GreenhillsBranchGreenhills542,325
GroesbeckBranchCincinnati6015,000
HarrisonBranchHarrison6016,000
Hyde ParkBranchCincinnati548,960
LovelandBranchLoveland549,100
MadeiraBranchMadeira5414,112
MadisonvilleBranchCincinnati548,904
MariemontBranchMariemont547,320
Miami TownshipBranchCleves542,900
Monfort HeightsBranchCincinnati589,525
Mt HealthyBranchCincinnati5410,000
Mt WashingtonBranchCincinnati546,360
North CentralBranchCincinnati6414,380
NorthsideBranchCincinnati548,220
NorwoodBranchNorwood5412,570
OakleyBranchCincinnati547,100
Pleasant RidgeBranchCincinnati549,300
Price HillBranchCincinnati6013,513
ReadingBranchReading5812,000
SharonvilleBranchCincinnati6411,000
St. BernardBranchCincinnati588,000
Symmes TownshipBranchLoveland6016,650
Walnut HillsBranchCincinnati6012,120
West EndBranchCincinnati544,850
WestwoodBranchCincinnati549,900
WyomingBranchWyoming547,775

County libraries of similar size in other states

None of these six systems records more visits per resident than this one. None of them matches this system's checkouts per resident.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Kern County LibraryBakersfield, CA888,0740.790.85$11.75
Fort Bend County LibrariesRichmond, TX873,8161.973.56$26.25
Baltimore County Public LibraryTowson, MD849,3163.038.09$63.59
Metropolitan Library SystemOklahoma City, OK808,8662.316.45$59.93
Cobb County Public Library SystemMarietta, GA783,5361.802.30$24.43
Lee County Library SystemFort Myers, FL779,2211.833.48$47.86

Nearest in size within Ohio

All profiled systems in Ohio