Frederick County Public Libraries
Frederick County Public Libraries is a county public library system based in Frederick, Maryland, serving a legal service area of 279,835 residents through nine library buildings and two bookmobiles. Among the 121 profiled systems serving 250,000 to 499,999 residents, it ranks second for program attendance per resident.
Among the 24 profiled systems in Maryland, it ranks second for program attendance and records the smallest decline in visits since FY 2019 and the largest gain in physical checkouts since FY 2019, but ranks third-lowest for public computers per resident. Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.4 times the physical checkouts per resident and 93% more operating spending per resident.
Frederick County against the 122 systems of its size class
Frederick County since FY 2019
Visits were 10% below the FY 2019 count of 1.1 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 12% up over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Frederick County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 73% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 43 people each.
Frederick County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,024,601
- Physical checkouts
- 2,328,007
- …of children's materials
- 1,427,740
- Electronic checkouts
- 851,971
- …of e-books
- 337,704
- …of e-audio
- 367,751
- Registered users
- 152,137
- Program sessions
- 5,959
- Program attendance
- 259,008
- Print volumes
- 342,625
- Audio items (physical)
- 18,499
- Video items (physical)
- 33,446
- Public computers
- 121
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 23,695
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 164.2
- Operating spending
- $19.4 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2.4 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Frederick County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $17.6 million, or $62.93 per resident. The local-government share sits 9 percentage points above the combined share for the 24 profiled systems in Maryland.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Frederick County, building by building
The nine buildings cover 174,500 square feet in total, 0.62 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is C Burr Artz Library at 66,000 square feet; the smallest is Point of Rocks Branch Library at 1,500. The longest hours, 58.8 a week, are shared by three buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C Burr Artz Library | Central library | Frederick | 58.8 | 66,000 |
| Brunswick Branch | Branch | Brunswick | 55 | 15,000 |
| Emmitsburg Branch | Branch | Emmitsburg | 41.1 | 5,000 |
| Middletown Branch | Branch | Middletown | 51.3 | 15,000 |
| Myersville Community Library | Branch | Myersville | 41.1 | 7,000 |
| Point of Rocks Branch Library | Branch | Point of Rocks | 18.9 | 1,500 |
| Thurmont Regional Library | Branch | Thurmont | 58.8 | 25,000 |
| Urbana Regional Library | Branch | Urbana | 58.8 | 25,000 |
| Walkersville Branch | Branch | Walkersville | 55 | 15,000 |
| Cba-Children`s Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Frederick | 9.6 | |
| The Community Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Frederick | 11.2 |
County 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 San Mateo County Libraries in California.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| York County Library System | Rock Hill, SC | 282,090 | 1.51 | 3.52 | $32.11 |
| Forsyth County Public Library | Cumming, GA | 279,366 | 2.73 | 8.20 | $34.06 |
| St. Tammany Parish Library | Covington, LA | 277,615 | 2.18 | 2.30 | $40.32 |
| Buncombe County Public Libraries | Asheville, NC | 277,047 | 2.67 | 4.43 | $28.99 |
| San Mateo County Libraries | San Mateo, CA | 273,370 | 6.20 | 8.78 | $159.85 |
| Brown County Library | Green Bay, WI | 273,297 | 2.31 | 4.70 | $26.67 |
Nearest in size within Maryland
- Harford County Public Library · Belcamp · 262,977 residents
- Howard County Library System · Ellicott City · 334,529 residents
- Carroll County Public Library · New Windsor · 173,873 residents
- Charles County Public Library · LA Plata · 168,698 residents