Cumberland County Public Library
Cumberland County Public Library is a county public library system based in Fayetteville (Cumberland County), North Carolina, serving a legal service area of 337,970 residents through eight library buildings. Among the 84 profiled systems in North Carolina, it ranks fourth for operating spending, fifth for population served, sixth for total visits and seventh for physical checkouts.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 39% more paid staff per resident and 17% fewer visits per resident.
Cumberland County against the 122 systems of its size class
Cumberland County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 620,215
- Physical checkouts
- 1,008,856
- …of children's materials
- 436,236
- Electronic checkouts
- 257,245
- …of e-books
- 111,422
- …of e-audio
- 138,450
- Registered users
- 73,934
- Program sessions
- 2,723
- Program attendance
- 58,882
- Print volumes
- 398,912
- Audio items (physical)
- 12,150
- Video items (physical)
- 30,911
- Public computers
- 244
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 24,544
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 147.5
- Operating spending
- $11.3 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1.1 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Cumberland County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $11.4 million, or $33.59 per resident. The local-government share sits 6 percentage points above the combined share for the 84 profiled systems in North Carolina.
- 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 Howard County Library System in Maryland.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County Free Library | Visalia, CA | 345,185 | 0.50 | 0.72 | $19.01 |
| Henrico County Public Library | Henrico, VA | 336,226 | 4.22 | 7.36 | $67.13 |
| Howard County Library System | Ellicott City, MD | 334,529 | 4.70 | 12.51 | $89.12 |
| West Florida Public Libraries | Pensacola, FL | 334,119 | 1.17 | 2.03 | $23.55 |
| St. Johns County Public Library System | St. Augustine, FL | 331,327 | 2.25 | 3.65 | $28.69 |
| Spartanburg County Public Library System | Spartanburg, SC | 327,997 | 2.88 | 4.54 | $52.71 |
Cumberland County since FY 2019
Visits were 49% below the FY 2019 count of 1.2 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 16% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Cumberland County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 79% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 22 people each.
Cumberland County, building by building
The eight buildings cover 190,240 square feet in total, 0.56 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Headquarters Library at 80,000 square feet; the smallest is Bordeaux Branch Library at 10,000. The longest hours, 61 a week, are shared by four buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headquarters Library | Central library | Fayetteville | 61 | 80,000 |
| Bordeaux Branch Library | Branch | Fayetteville | 57 | 10,000 |
| Cliffdale Branch Library | Branch | Fayetteville | 61 | 17,115 |
| East Regional Branch Library | Branch | Fayetteville | 57 | 21,000 |
| Hope Mills Branch Library | Branch | Hope Mills | 61 | 11,250 |
| North Regional Branch Library | Branch | Fayetteville | 61 | 24,000 |
| Spring Lake Branch Library | Branch | Spring Lake | 57 | 12,000 |
| West Regional Branch Library | Branch | Fayetteville | 57 | 14,875 |
Nearest in size within North Carolina
- Durham County Library · Durham · 334,350 residents
- Forsyth County Public Library · Winston-Salem · 392,839 residents
- Buncombe County Public Libraries · Asheville · 277,047 residents
- Greensboro Public Library · Greensboro · 435,509 residents