librarysystems

Denver Public Library

Denver, ColoradoMunicipal libraryLarge cityFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Denver Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Denver, Colorado, serving a legal service area of 715,636 residents through 27 library buildings and three bookmobiles. Among the 101 profiled systems in Colorado, it leads on population served, total visits, operating spending and number of library buildings.

Of all 8,561 systems profiled nationwide, it ranks tenth for print volumes. Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks second for operating spending per resident, third for paid staff per resident, fourth for print volumes per resident and fourth for library floor space per resident.

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

Denver against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class3.57Visitsper resident84th percentile5.86Checkoutsper resident71st percentile$128Spendingper resident98th percentile3.71Print volumesper resident94th percentile299Program visitsper 1,000 people75th percentile9.9Computersper 10,000 people88th percentile9.0Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people96th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident3.5784th pct.Checkouts per resident5.8671st pct.Spending per resident$12898th pct.Print volumes per resident3.7194th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people29975th pct.Computers per 10,000 people9.988th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people9.096th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Denver, building by building

The 27 buildings cover 852,257 square feet in total, 1.19 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Denver Public Library at 540,315 square feet; the smallest is Westwood Branch Library at 1,073. The longest hours, 59 a week, are shared by five buildings.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Denver Public LibraryCentral libraryDenver25540,315
Athmar Park Branch LibraryBranchDenver396,960
Bear Valley Branch LibraryBranchDenver4611,410
Blair-Caldwell African American Research LibraryBranchDenver5223,765
Bob Ragland Branch LibraryBranchDenver397,000
Decker Branch LibraryBranchDenver464,932
Eugene Field Branch LibraryBranchDenver468,923
Ford Warren Branch LibraryBranchDenver3910,573
Green Valley Ranch Branch LibraryBranchDenver5925,602
Hadley Branch LibraryBranchDenver5912,962
Hampden Branch LibraryBranchDenver5911,560
John Thunderbird Man Emhoolah Branch LibraryBranchDenver394,640
Montbello Branch LibraryBranchDenver4811,443
Park Hill Branch LibraryBranchDenver4610,260
Pauline Robinson Branch LibraryBranchDenver395,285
Rodolfo Corky Gonzales Branch LibraryBranchDenver5926,973
Ross-Barnum Branch LibraryBranchDenver3910,500
Ross-Broadway Branch LibraryBranchDenver464,500
Ross-Cherry Creek Branch LibraryBranchDenver4617,808
Ross-University Hills Branch LibraryBranchDenver5221,243
Sam Gary Branch LibraryBranchDenver5928,490
Schlessman Family Branch LibraryBranchDenver4814,884
Smiley Branch LibraryBranchDenver484,726
Valdez-Perry LibraryBranchDenver394,883
Virginia Village Branch LibraryBranchDenver3911,524
Westwood Branch LibraryBranchDenver461,073
Woodbury Branch LibraryBranchDenver4810,023
Denver Public Library BookmobileTwo bookmobilesDenver–
Denver Public Library Bookmobile 2BookmobileDenver–

A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.

Denver in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
2,553,746
Physical checkouts
4,191,877
…of children's materials
1,732,417
Electronic checkouts
4,503,930
…of e-books
1,637,787
…of e-audio
2,245,449
Registered users
376,489
Program sessions
8,974
Program attendance
213,874
Print volumes
2,654,033
Audio items (physical)
175,167
Video items (physical)
362,556
Public computers
711
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
641.8
Operating spending
$91.4 million
…on books and other materials
$8 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Denver gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $96.2 million, or $134.46 per resident. The local-government share sits 6 percentage points above the combined share for the 101 profiled systems in Colorado.

This system96%All profiled systems in Colorado90%
This system96%All profiled systems in Colorado90%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Denver since FY 2019

Visits were 36% below the FY 2019 count of 4 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 41% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Denver programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 66% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 24 people each.

Children 0–11140,541Young adults 12–1831,446Adults 19+41,887
Children 0–11140,541Young adults 12–1831,446Adults 19+41,887

Municipal libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, three record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to San Francisco Public Library in California.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
San Francisco Public LibrarySan Francisco, CA843,0714.728.94$199.24
Seattle Public LibrarySeattle, WA797,7003.685.60$125.65
District of Columbia Public LibraryWashington, DC702,2504.815.46$121.10
El Paso Public LibraryEl Paso, TX678,9581.051.50$15.67
Detroit Public LibraryDetroit, MI639,1110.540.27$48.30
Milwaukee Public LibraryMilwaukee, WI577,8952.001.86$59.20

Nearest in size within Colorado

All profiled systems in Colorado