Des Moines Public Library
Des Moines Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Des Moines (Polk County), Iowa, serving a legal service area of 221,659 residents through six library buildings. Among profiled systems in Iowa, it leads on population served, total visits, operating spending and program attendance.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.3 times the program attendance per resident and 96% more visits per resident.
Des Moines against the 360 systems of its size class
Des Moines, building by building
The six buildings cover 190,524 square feet in total, 0.86 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Des Moines Public Library at 110,000 square feet; the smallest is North Side Library at 10,000. The longest hours are at Des Moines Public Library, 61.8 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines Public Library | Central library | Des Moines | 61.8 | 110,000 |
| East Side Library | Branch | Des Moines | 53.1 | 15,134 |
| Forest Avenue Library | Branch | Des Moines | 53.1 | 12,000 |
| Franklin Avenue Library | Branch | Des Moines | 57.1 | 28,590 |
| North Side Library | Branch | Des Moines | 53.1 | 10,000 |
| South Side Library | Branch | Des Moines | 53.1 | 14,800 |
Des Moines in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 887,821
- Physical checkouts
- 848,407
- …of children's materials
- 355,943
- Registered users
- 86,593
- Program sessions
- 3,206
- Program attendance
- 116,590
- Print volumes
- 361,772
- Audio items (physical)
- 26,700
- Video items (physical)
- 25,628
- Public computers
- 116
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 17,219
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 98.6
- Operating spending
- $11.4 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1.1 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Des Moines gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $11.4 million, or $51.59 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 475 profiled systems in Iowa. Federal money made up 3.2% of the total.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Des Moines since FY 2019
Visits were 11% above the FY 2019 count of 803,121 (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 19% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Des Moines programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 67% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 36 people each.
Municipal libraries 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 Frisco Public Library in Texas.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond Public Library | Richmond, VA | 226,623 | 2.35 | 2.66 | $39.05 |
| San Bernardino Public Library | San Bernardino, CA | 226,541 | 0.19 | 0.18 | $12.65 |
| Tacoma Public Library | Tacoma, WA | 225,100 | 2.07 | 5.18 | $91.56 |
| Frisco Public Library | Frisco, TX | 225,007 | 5.17 | 13.03 | $31.53 |
| Waco-McLennan County Library | Waco, TX | 224,116 | 1.35 | 2.67 | $24.28 |
| McAllen Public Library | McAllen, TX | 219,148 | 2.15 | 1.78 | $23.92 |
Nearest in size within Iowa
- Cedar Rapids Public Library · Cedar Rapids · 145,309 residents
- Davenport Public Library · Davenport · 101,724 residents
- Iowa City Public Library · Iowa City · 89,912 residents
- Sioux City Public Library · Sioux City · 85,797 residents