librarysystems

Enoch Pratt Free Library

Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore City CountyMunicipal libraryLarge cityFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

Enoch Pratt Free Library is a municipal public library system based in Baltimore (Baltimore City County), Maryland, serving a legal service area of 576,498 residents through 22 library buildings and three bookmobiles. Among profiled systems in Maryland, it ranks first for public computers, first for print volumes, first for print volumes per resident and first for the electronic share of checkouts, but ranks third-lowest for physical checkouts per resident.

Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks first for public computers per resident and seventh for paid staff per resident, but ranks last for local government's share of operating revenue and ninth-lowest for weekly open hours per outlet. Against the median system of its size class, it records 94% more operating spending per resident.

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

Enoch Pratt against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.07Visitsper resident39th percentile2.18Checkoutsper resident22nd percentile$92.89Spendingper resident89th percentile3.52Print volumesper resident93rd percentile200Program visitsper 1,000 people55th percentile17.1Computersper 10,000 people99th percentile35.2Open hoursper outlet a week16th percentile7.9Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people89th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.0739th pct.Checkouts per resident2.1822nd pct.Spending per resident$92.8989th pct.Print volumes per resident3.5293rd pct.Program visits per 1,000 people20055th pct.Computers per 10,000 people17.199th pct.Open hours per outlet a week35.216th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people7.989th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Enoch Pratt, building by building

The 21 buildings cover 571,149 square feet in total, 0.99 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Enoch Pratt Central at 349,713 square feet; the smallest is Washington Village Branch at 2,400. The longest hours are at Southeast Anchor Library, 51.5 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Enoch Pratt CentralCentral libraryBaltimore51.4349,713
Brooklyn BranchBranchBaltimore46.510,152
Canton BranchBranchBaltimore46.76,848
Cherry Hill BranchBranchBaltimore44.96,500
Edmondson Avenue BranchBranchBaltimore46.410,617
Forest Park BranchBranchBaltimore48.27,435
Govans BranchBranchBaltimore46.98,515
Hamilton BranchBranchBaltimore46.412,473
Hampden BranchBranchBaltimore46.76,400
Herring Run BranchBranchBaltimore46.513,197
Light Street BranchBranchBaltimore47.19,489
Northwood BranchBranchBaltimore45.412,985
Orleans Street BranchBranchBaltimore46.814,938
Patterson Park BranchBranchBaltimore46.68,370
Pennsylvania Avenue BranchBranchBaltimore51.214,708
Reisterstown Road BranchBranchBaltimore46.912,867
Roland Park BranchBranchBaltimore46.79,500
Southeast Anchor LibraryBranchBaltimore51.527,000
Walbrook BranchBranchBaltimore47.110,148
Washington Village BranchBranchBaltimore50.42,400
Waverly BranchBranchBaltimore46.616,894
Bookmobile HeadquartersBookmobileBaltimore22.3

Enoch Pratt in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
1,192,264
Physical checkouts
1,258,760
…of children's materials
520,578
Electronic checkouts
1,158,443
…of e-books
451,199
…of e-audio
439,182
Registered users
233,646
Program sessions
9,352
Program attendance
115,068
Print volumes
2,031,082
Audio items (physical)
49,884
Video items (physical)
75,720
Public computers
985
Public service hours, all outlets
45,791
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
453.0
Operating spending
$53.5 million
…on books and other materials
$3.8 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Enoch Pratt gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $63.1 million, or $109.44 per resident. The local-government share sits 35 percentage points below the combined share for the 24 profiled systems in Maryland. Federal money made up 3.3% of the total.

This system36%14%All profiled systems in Maryland71%17%
This system36%14%All profiled systems in Maryland71%17%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Enoch Pratt since FY 2019

Visits were 28% below the FY 2019 count of 1.7 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 15% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 1005060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 1005060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Enoch Pratt programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 43% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 12 people each.

Children 0–1148,981Young adults 12–1812,052Adults 19+41,589General interest12,446
Children 0–1148,981Young adults 12–1812,052Adults 19+41,589General interest12,446

Municipal libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, two record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to District of Columbia Public Library in the District of Columbia.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
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
Omaha Public LibraryOmaha, NE571,0132.314.97$36.23
Mesa Public LibraryMesa, AZ524,8921.243.04$16.78

Nearest in size within Maryland

All profiled systems in Maryland