librarysystems

Contra Costa County Library

Martinez, CaliforniaContra Costa CountyCounty libraryLarge suburbFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

Contra Costa County Library is a county public library system based in Martinez (Contra Costa County), California, serving a legal service area of 1,033,891 residents through 26 library buildings. Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks seventh for local government's share of operating revenue, ninth for physical checkouts per resident and tenth for program attendance per resident, but ranks seventh-lowest for paid staff per resident and ninth-lowest for library floor space per resident.

Among the 170 profiled systems in California, it ranks eighth for population served, ninth for total visits, ninth for physical checkouts and tenth for number of library buildings. Against the median system of its size class, it records 13% more visits per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

Contra Costa County against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.37Visitsper resident67th percentile4.66Checkoutsper resident76th percentile$42.65Spendingper resident53rd percentile0.93Print volumesper resident47th percentile263Program visitsper 1,000 people72nd percentile5.7Computersper 10,000 people56th percentile44.1Open hoursper outlet a week38th percentile2.2Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people19th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.3767th pct.Checkouts per resident4.6676th pct.Spending per resident$42.6553rd pct.Print volumes per resident0.9347th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people26372nd pct.Computers per 10,000 people5.756th pct.Open hours per outlet a week44.138th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people2.219th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Contra Costa County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
2,450,877
Physical checkouts
4,820,131
…of children's materials
3,155,690
Electronic checkouts
2,205,667
…of e-books
1,180,657
…of e-audio
852,088
Registered users
359,564
Program sessions
6,924
Program attendance
271,523
Print volumes
965,268
Audio items (physical)
27,453
Video items (physical)
62,316
Public computers
590
Public service hours, all outlets
59,585
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
225.9
Operating spending
$44.1 million
…on books and other materials
$6.6 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Contra Costa County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $41.4 million, or $40.02 per resident. The local-government share sits 4 percentage points above the combined share for the 170 profiled systems in California. No federal operating revenue was reported.

This system98%All profiled systems in California94%
This system98%All profiled systems in California94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

County libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, four record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Cuyahoga County Public Library in Ohio.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Tulsa City-County Library SystemTulsa, OK682,8682.728.14$48.73
Brevard County Library SystemCocoa, FL653,5482.435.06$31.44
Ocean County LibraryToms River, NJ636,2022.425.05$73.32
Pasco County Public Library CooperativeHudson, FL634,7680.672.02$17.50
Cuyahoga County Public LibraryParma, OH626,2886.2611.75$119.50
Volusia County Public LibraryDaytona Beach, FL592,8522.093.00$36.71

Contra Costa County since FY 2019

Visits were 31% below the FY 2019 count of 3.5 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 18% down over the same span.

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

Who comes to Contra Costa County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 64% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 39 people each.

Children 0–11173,111Young adults 12–1812,896Adults 19+26,900General interest58,616
Children 0–11173,111Young adults 12–1812,896Adults 19+26,900General interest58,616

Contra Costa County, building by building

The 26 buildings cover 357,233 square feet in total, 0.35 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Walnut Creek Library at 42,000 square feet; the smallest is Rodeo Library at 864. The longest hours, 56 a week, are shared by four buildings.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Antioch LibraryBranchAntioch4011,000
Bay Point LibraryBranchBay Point34.5950
Brentwood LibraryBranchBrentwood5220,721
Clayton Community LibraryBranchClayton39.915,500
Concord LibraryBranchConcord51.611,300
Crockett LibraryBranchCrockett241,238
Danville LibraryBranchDanville5617,000
Dougherty Station LibraryBranchSan Ramon4611,800
El Cerrito LibraryBranchEl Cerrito45.96,400
El Sobrante LibraryBranchEl Sobrante407,474
Hercules LibraryBranchHercules4621,500
Kensington LibraryBranchKensington39.75,094
Lafayette LibraryBranchLafayette5634,930
Martinez LibraryBranchMartinez39.86,792
Moraga LibraryBranchMoraga4010,913
Oakley LibraryBranchOakley39.86,000
Orinda LibraryBranchOrinda5617,136
Pinole LibraryBranchPinole39.917,098
Pittsburg LibraryBranchPittsburg499,196
Pleasant Hill LibraryBranchPleasant Hill4623,900
Prewett LibraryBranchAntioch34.61,500
Rodeo LibraryBranchRodeo23864
San Pablo LibraryBranchSan Pablo5222,387
San Ramon LibraryBranchSan Ramon5621,338
Walnut Creek LibraryBranchWalnut Creek51.742,000
Ygnacio Valley LibraryBranchWalnut Creek5213,202

Nearest in size within California

All profiled systems in California