librarysystems

Dallas Public Library

Dallas, TexasMunicipal libraryLarge cityFiscal year October 2023 to September 2024

Dallas Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Dallas, Texas, serving a legal service area of 1,302,868 residents through 30 library buildings. Among profiled systems in Texas, it ranks first for program attendance, second for number of library buildings, second for print volumes and third for physical checkouts.

Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks second for library floor space per resident and sixth for local government's share of operating revenue, but ranks last for visits per resident and records the sixth-steepest decline in physical checkouts since FY 2019. Against the median system of its size class, it records 34% more print volumes per resident and 22% less operating spending per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

Dallas against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class0.36Visitsper resident1st percentile3.01Checkoutsper resident56th percentile$32.59Spendingper resident27th percentile1.27Print volumesper resident64th percentile160Program visitsper 1,000 people37th percentile4.7Computersper 10,000 people36th percentile50.0Open hoursper outlet a week65th percentile3.4Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people56th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident0.361st pct.Checkouts per resident3.0156th pct.Spending per resident$32.5927th pct.Print volumes per resident1.2764th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people16037th pct.Computers per 10,000 people4.736th pct.Open hours per outlet a week50.065th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people3.456th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Who comes to Dallas programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 55% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 15 people each.

Children 0–11113,776Young adults 12–182,947Adults 19+58,557General interest32,715
Children 0–11113,776Young adults 12–182,947Adults 19+58,557General interest32,715

Nearest in size within Texas

All profiled systems in Texas

Dallas in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
466,700
Physical checkouts
3,918,978
…of children's materials
1,699,546
Electronic checkouts
1,825,784
…of e-books
801,900
…of e-audio
754,502
Registered users
688,257
Program sessions
13,662
Program attendance
207,995
Print volumes
1,652,469
Audio items (physical)
49,344
Video items (physical)
183,628
Public computers
611
Public service hours, all outlets
78,022
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
446.1
Operating spending
$42.5 million
…on books and other materials
$4.7 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Dallas gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $42.9 million, or $32.90 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 503 profiled systems in Texas.

This system98%All profiled systems in Texas96%
This system98%All profiled systems in Texas96%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Dallas, building by building

The 30 buildings cover 1,105,347 square feet in total, 0.85 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Dallas Public Library at 646,733 square feet; the smallest is Bookmarks @ Northpark Center at 1,990. The longest hours are at Vickery Park Branch Library, 58.7 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Dallas Public LibraryCentral libraryDallas47.9646,733
Arcadia Park Branch LibraryBranchDallas50.619,000
Audelia Road Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.417,350
Bachman Lake Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.120,019
Bookmarks @ Northpark CenterBranchDallas38.11,990
Dallas West Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.616,605
Forest Green Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.619,881
Fretz Park Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.619,500
Grauwyler Park Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.312,500
Hampton-Illinois Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.126,288
Highland Hills Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.119,570
Kleberg-Rylie Branch LibraryBranchDallas4810,861
Lakewood Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.410,600
Lochwood Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.420,200
Martin Luther King Jr Library/Learning CenterBranchDallas51.613,532
Mountain Creek Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.612,729
North Oak Cliff Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.315,562
Oak Lawn Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.312,900
Park Forest Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.310,984
Paul Laurence Dunbar Lancaster-Kiest Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.317,950
Pleasant Grove Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.120,200
Polk-Wisdom Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.616,900
Prairie Creek Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.118,420
Preston Royal Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.412,400
Renner Frankford Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.114,668
Skillman Southwestern Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.113,200
Skyline Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.612,037
Timberglen Branch LibraryBranchDallas48.418,500
Vickery Park Branch LibraryBranchDallas58.716,268
White Rock Hills Branch LibraryBranchDallas51.618,000

Municipal libraries of similar size in other states

All six of these systems record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Denver Public Library in Colorado.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Seattle Public LibrarySeattle, WA797,7003.685.60$125.65
Denver Public LibraryDenver, CO715,6363.575.86$127.68
District of Columbia Public LibraryWashington, DC702,2504.815.46$121.10
Detroit Public LibraryDetroit, MI639,1110.540.27$48.30
Milwaukee Public LibraryMilwaukee, WI577,8952.001.86$59.20
Enoch Pratt Free LibraryBaltimore, MD576,4982.072.18$92.89