Flint River Regional Library System
Flint River Regional Library System is a multi-jurisdictional public library system based in Griffin (Spalding County), Georgia, serving a legal service area of 295,143 residents through nine library buildings. Among the 60 profiled systems in Georgia, it ranks seventh for physical checkouts, eighth for total visits, ninth for population served and tenth for operating spending.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 43% less operating spending per resident and 37% fewer paid staff per resident.
Flint River Regional against the 122 systems of its size class
Flint River Regional since FY 2019
Visits were 43% below the FY 2019 count of 948,280 (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 7% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Flint River Regional programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 75% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 25 people each.
Flint River Regional in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 542,947
- Physical checkouts
- 873,504
- …of children's materials
- 468,737
- Electronic checkouts
- 236,192
- …of e-books
- 75,541
- …of e-audio
- 118,929
- Registered users
- 106,258
- Program sessions
- 1,938
- Program attendance
- 48,235
- Print volumes
- 451,548
- Audio items (physical)
- 15,094
- Video items (physical)
- 20,927
- Public computers
- 207
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 20,971
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 58.4
- Operating spending
- $6 million
- …on books and other materials
- $553,394
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Flint River Regional gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $5.9 million, or $20.03 per resident. The local-government share sits 6 percentage points below the combined share for the 60 profiled systems in Georgia. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Flint River Regional, building by building
The nine buildings cover 154,690 square feet in total, 0.52 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Peachtree City Library at 34,636 square feet; the smallest is Milner Community Library at 6,000. The longest hours are at Fayette County Public Library, 62.9 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Griffin-Spalding County Library | Central library | Griffin | 57.4 | 26,726 |
| Barnesville-Lamar County Library | Branch | Barnesville | 35.6 | 13,000 |
| Fayette County Public Library | Branch | Fayetteville | 62.9 | 33,200 |
| J. Joel Edwards Public Library | Branch | Zebulon | 42.1 | 8,934 |
| Jackson-Butts County Public Library | Branch | Jackson | 33.8 | 12,785 |
| Milner Community Library | Branch | Milner | 27.2 | 6,000 |
| Monroe County Library | Branch | Forsyth | 47.9 | 10,400 |
| Peachtree City Library | Branch | Peachtree City | 55.9 | 34,636 |
| Tyrone Public Library | Branch | Tyrone | 40.5 | 9,009 |
Multi-jurisdictional 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 East Central Regional Library in Minnesota.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery City-County Public Library | Montgomery, AL | 226,361 | 1.63 | 1.64 | $27.97 |
| Northwest Regional Library System | Panama City, FL | 216,657 | 1.23 | 2.09 | $16.70 |
| Sandhill Regional Library System | Rockingham, NC | 216,654 | 0.90 | 1.60 | $16.10 |
| Heartland Library Cooperative | Sebring, FL | 213,496 | 1.98 | 2.15 | $13.53 |
| Mid Arkansas Regional Library System | Malvern, AR | 189,438 | 1.69 | 1.01 | $21.30 |
| East Central Regional Library | Cambridge, MN | 185,638 | 1.93 | 3.47 | $21.03 |
Nearest in size within Georgia
- Clayton County Library System · Jonesboro · 302,512 residents
- Forsyth County Public Library · Cumming · 279,366 residents
- Middle Georgia Regional Library System · Macon · 270,784 residents
- Henry County Library System · McDonough · 257,669 residents