City of St. Louis Municipal Library District
City of St. Louis Municipal Library District is a library district based in St. Louis (St. Louis City County), Missouri, serving a legal service area of 301,578 residents through 16 library buildings. Among the 149 profiled systems in Missouri, it ranks first for print volumes, third for operating spending, third for number of library buildings and third for program attendance.
Among profiled systems serving 250,000 to 499,999 residents, it ranks second for print volumes per resident, fourth for paid staff per resident, fourth for library floor space per resident and eighth for operating spending per resident. Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.6 times the program attendance per resident and 57% more visits per resident.
City of St. Louis Municipal against the 122 systems of its size class
City of St. Louis Municipal, building by building
The 16 buildings cover 388,803 square feet in total, 1.29 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Central Library at 190,870 square feet; the smallest is Charing Cross Branch at 1,092. The longest hours, 64 a week, are shared by five buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Library | Central library | St. Louis | 64 | 190,870 |
| Baden Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 46 | 8,400 |
| Barr Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 46 | 11,276 |
| Buder Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 64 | 40,000 |
| Cabanne Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 46 | 10,300 |
| Carondelet Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 46 | 13,480 |
| Carpenter Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 64 | 25,000 |
| Central Express | Branch | St. Louis | 35 | 7,000 |
| Charing Cross Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 38 | 1,092 |
| Divoll Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 46 | 8,000 |
| Julia Davis Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 64 | 15,630 |
| Kingshighway Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 46 | 12,000 |
| Machacek Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 46 | 8,000 |
| Marketplace Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 38 | 1,255 |
| Schlafly Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 64 | 26,000 |
| Walnut Park Branch | Branch | St. Louis | 46 | 10,500 |
City of St. Louis Municipal in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,050,908
- Physical checkouts
- 1,510,232
- …of children's materials
- 620,428
- Electronic checkouts
- 1,095,865
- …of e-books
- 368,385
- …of e-audio
- 641,464
- Registered users
- 194,779
- Program sessions
- 9,167
- Program attendance
- 155,593
- Print volumes
- 2,268,236
- Audio items (physical)
- 55,381
- Video items (physical)
- 47,692
- Public computers
- 236
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 41,338
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 327.0
- Operating spending
- $31.6 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2.6 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where City of St. Louis Municipal gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $36.3 million, or $120.40 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 148 profiled systems in Missouri. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
City of St. Louis Municipal since FY 2019
Visits were 39% below the FY 2019 count of 1.7 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 32% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to City of St. Louis Municipal programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 53% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 17 people each.
Library districts of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, one records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Arapahoe Library District in Colorado.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Las Vegas Library District | North Las Vegas, NV | 282,496 | 0.94 | 1.24 | $12.66 |
| North Central Regional Library | Wenatchee, WA | 280,865 | 2.33 | 2.60 | $58.44 |
| Arapahoe Library District | Englewood, CO | 277,382 | 5.02 | 9.28 | $155.44 |
| Mid-Columbia Libraries | Kennewick, WA | 272,954 | 1.86 | 5.48 | $33.77 |
| Yakima Valley Regional Library | Yakima, WA | 251,520 | 1.63 | 2.09 | $32.36 |
| Lake County Public Library | Merrillville, IN | 251,041 | 2.74 | 6.13 | $51.60 |
Nearest in size within Missouri
- Springfield-Greene County Library District · Springfield · 298,915 residents
- Kansas City Public Library · Kansas City · 232,498 residents
- Saint Charles City-County Library District · St. Peters · 405,262 residents
- Daniel Boone Regional Library · Columbia · 223,840 residents