librarysystems

Free Library of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaNonprofit association libraryLarge cityFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Free Library of Philadelphia is a nonprofit public library system based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving a legal service area of 1,603,797 residents through 54 library buildings. Of all systems profiled nationwide, it ranks sixth for program attendance and ninth for operating spending.

Among the 435 profiled systems in Pennsylvania, it leads on population served, number of library buildings, public computers and print volumes. Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks first for paid staff per resident, third for operating spending per resident, fifth for print volumes per resident and fifth for program attendance per resident, but records the steepest decline in visits since FY 2019 and the steepest decline in physical checkouts since FY 2019.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

Philadelphia against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class1.02Visitsper resident10th percentile1.24Checkoutsper resident7th percentile$73.89Spendingper resident93rd percentile1.55Print volumesper resident87th percentile322Program visitsper 1,000 people87th percentile4.6Computersper 10,000 people33rd percentile30.4Open hoursper outlet a week5th percentile7.1Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people99th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident1.0210th pct.Checkouts per resident1.247th pct.Spending per resident$73.8993rd pct.Print volumes per resident1.5587th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people32287th pct.Computers per 10,000 people4.633rd pct.Open hours per outlet a week30.45th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people7.199th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Philadelphia since FY 2019

Visits were 67% below the FY 2019 count of 4.9 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 69% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 10020406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 10020406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Philadelphia programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 61% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 20 people each.

Children 0–11314,848Young adults 12–1847,940Adults 19+100,738General interest53,316
Children 0–11314,848Young adults 12–1847,940Adults 19+100,738General interest53,316

Philadelphia in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
1,636,872
Physical checkouts
1,991,155
…of children's materials
688,744
Electronic checkouts
3,843,543
…of e-books
1,978,581
…of e-audio
1,349,219
Registered users
589,660
Program sessions
25,966
Program attendance
516,842
Print volumes
2,479,559
Audio items (physical)
64,186
Video items (physical)
172,351
Public computers
732
Public service hours, all outlets
85,482
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
1,146.5
Operating spending
$119 million
…on books and other materials
$10.7 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Philadelphia gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $12 million, or $75.08 per resident. The local-government share sits 23 percentage points above the combined share for the 435 profiled systems in Pennsylvania.

This system86%All profiled systems in Pennsylvania63%17%
This system86%All profiled systems in Pennsylvania63%17%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Philadelphia, building by building

The 51 buildings cover 782,886 square feet in total, 0.49 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Free Library of Philadelphia at 286,556 square feet; the smallest is Fishtown Community Branch Library at 3,059. The longest hours are at Free Library of Philadelphia, 49.4 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Free Library of PhiladelphiaCentral libraryPhiladelphia49.4286,556
Andorra Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.78,235
Blanche A Nixon Branch, Cobbs CreekBranchPhiladelphia32.99,807
Bushrod Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.210,093
Bustleton Avenue Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia339,170
Cecil B Moore Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia36.58,550
Charles Durham Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia353,988
Charles Santore Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia397,950
Chestnut Hill Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.19,711
David Cohen Ogontz BranchBranchPhiladelphia31.23,880
Eastwick Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia356,545
Falls of Schuylkill Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.28,032
Fishtown Community Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.13,059
Fox Chase Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia35.19,081
Fumo Family Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.25,289
Greater Olney Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia37.710,420
Haddington Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia32.810,142
Haverford Avenue Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia36.66,372
Holmesburg Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia35.58,087
Independence Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia347,736
Joseph E Coleman Northwest Regional LibraryBranchPhiladelphia31.719,117
Katharine Drexel Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia34.59,421
Kensington Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia35.65,595
Lawncrest Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia29.57,421
Library of Accessible Media for PennsylvaniansBranchPhiladelphia4010,183
Lillian Marrero Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia37.919,120
Logan Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia30.112,229
Lovett Memorial Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia30.412,199
Lucien E Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional LibraryBranchPhiladelphia32.815,063
McPherson Square Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia34.89,815
Nicetown-Tioga Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia32.49,670
Northeast Regional LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.236,996
Oak Lane Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia30.48,071
Overbrook Park Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia31.210,724
Philadelphia City Institute LibraryBranchPhiladelphia31.29,512
Queen Memorial LibraryBranchPhiladelphia35.84,800
Ramonita G Derodriguez Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia36.79,465
Richmond Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia36.19,672
Roxborough Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia31.69,215
South Philadelphia Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia27.812,000
Tacony Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia35.214,600
Thomas F Donatucci, Sr., BranchBranchPhiladelphia38.18,991
Torresdale Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia35.710,464
Wadsworth Avenue Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia31.25,943
Walnut Street West Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia38.99,697
Welsh Road Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia31.410,400
West Oak Lane Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia31.79,973
Whitman Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.96,673
Widener Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia33.29,945
Wynnefield Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia36.813,586
Wyoming Branch LibraryBranchPhiladelphia35.69,623

Closest in size nationwide

All six of these systems record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to King County Library System in Washington.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Las Vegas-Clark County Library DistrictLas Vegas, NV1,721,8512.243.82$51.67
Phoenix Public LibraryPhoenix, AZ1,697,6961.252.86$30.31
Orange County Public LibrariesSanta Ana, CA1,653,7182.104.68$38.92
King County Library SystemIssaquah, WA1,607,6503.357.16$90.15
Hillsborough County Public Library CooperativeTampa, FL1,559,6781.622.32$37.59
Sacramento Public LibrarySacramento, CA1,490,9151.352.84$38.30

Nearest in size within Pennsylvania

All profiled systems in Pennsylvania