Great River Regional Library
Great River Regional Library is a multi-jurisdictional public library system based in St. Cloud (Stearns County), Minnesota, serving a legal service area of 515,855 residents through 32 library buildings. Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it records the third-smallest decline in visits since FY 2019, but ranks third-lowest for the electronic share of checkouts and seventh-lowest for program attendance per resident.
Among profiled systems in Minnesota, it ranks second for population served, second for print volumes, third for physical checkouts and third for program attendance. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 40% of the operating spending per resident and 38% fewer paid staff per resident.
Great River Regional against the 61 systems of its size class
Great River Regional since FY 2019
Visits were 6% below the FY 2019 count of 1.2 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 18% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Great River Regional programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 67% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 23 people each.
Great River Regional in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,127,464
- Physical checkouts
- 2,337,131
- …of children's materials
- 1,142,330
- Electronic checkouts
- 478,063
- …of e-books
- 206,612
- …of e-audio
- 271,451
- Registered users
- 101,699
- Program sessions
- 2,741
- Program attendance
- 62,375
- Print volumes
- 668,276
- Audio items (physical)
- 62,038
- Video items (physical)
- 73,771
- Public computers
- 218
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 53,412
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 131.0
- Operating spending
- $9.8 million
- …on books and other materials
- $967,372
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Great River Regional gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $13.1 million, or $25.31 per resident. The local-government share sits 16 percentage points below the combined share for the 132 profiled systems in Minnesota. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Great River Regional, building by building
The 32 buildings cover 263,942 square feet in total, 0.51 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is St. Cloud Public Library at 115,104 square feet; the smallest is Swanville Public Library at 879. The longest hours are at St. Cloud Public Library, 56.6 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Cloud Public Library | Central library | St. Cloud | 56.6 | 115,104 |
| Albany Public Library | Branch | Albany | 37 | 3,500 |
| Annandale Public Library | Branch | Annandale | 27.1 | 3,850 |
| Becker Public Library | Branch | Becker | 31.8 | 3,500 |
| Belgrade: Myrtle Mabee Public Library | Branch | Belgrade | 20.9 | 1,789 |
| Big Lake Public Library | Branch | Big Lake | 31 | 2,750 |
| Buffalo Public Library | Branch | Buffalo | 46 | 10,000 |
| Clearwater Public Library | Branch | Clearwater | 24 | 3,750 |
| Cokato Public Library | Branch | Cokato | 29.7 | 4,800 |
| Cold Spring Public Library | Branch | Cold Spring | 35.6 | 1,768 |
| Delano Public Library | Branch | Delano | 42.3 | 5,970 |
| Eagle Bend Public Library | Branch | Eagle Bend | 21.9 | 5,175 |
| Elk River Public Library | Branch | Elk River | 46.1 | 16,000 |
| Foley Public Library | Branch | Foley | 34.8 | 5,000 |
| Grey Eagle Public Library | Branch | Grey Eagle | 22 | 2,500 |
| Howard Lake Public Library | Branch | Howard Lake | 29.1 | 6,143 |
| Kimball Public Library | Branch | Kimball | 21.9 | 4,200 |
| Little Falls Public Library | Branch | Little Falls | 43 | 14,000 |
| Long Prairie Public Library | Branch | Long Prairie | 35.5 | 2,570 |
| Melrose Public Library | Branch | Melrose | 25.8 | 2,850 |
| Monticello Public Library | Branch | Monticello | 39.6 | 9,700 |
| Paynesville Public Library | Branch | Paynesville | 31.7 | 2,896 |
| Pierz Public Library | Branch | Pierz | 26.8 | 3,570 |
| Richmond Public Library | Branch | Richmond | 22 | 1,440 |
| Rockford Public Library | Branch | Rockford | 31.6 | 3,900 |
| Royalton Public Library | Branch | Royalton | 21.9 | 2,000 |
| Sauk Centre: Sinclair Lewis Public Library | Branch | Sauk Centre | 33.7 | 5,032 |
| St. Michael Public Library | Branch | St. Michael | 46.1 | 9,375 |
| Staples Public Library | Branch | Staples | 35.4 | 4,733 |
| Swanville Public Library | Branch | Swanville | 21.7 | 879 |
| Upsala Public Library | Branch | Upsala | 23.9 | 1,726 |
| Waite Park: Al Ringsmuth Public Library | Branch | Waite Park | 30.6 | 3,472 |
Multi-jurisdictional libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, three record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Santa Clara County Library in California.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince William Public Libraries | Prince William, VA | 525,441 | 1.66 | 3.32 | $44.93 |
| West Georgia Regional Library | Carrollton, GA | 510,050 | 1.34 | 2.06 | $16.52 |
| Sonoma County Library | Rohnert Park, CA | 478,152 | 2.98 | 5.72 | $87.04 |
| Santa Clara County Library | Campbell, CA | 456,355 | 5.40 | 17.73 | $147.69 |
| Live Oak Public Libraries | Savannah, GA | 450,821 | 1.41 | 1.72 | $25.90 |
| Pioneer Library System | Norman, OK | 422,056 | 2.37 | 3.77 | $54.96 |
Nearest in size within Minnesota
- Dakota County Library · Eagan · 449,658 residents
- Anoka County Library · Blaine · 349,759 residents
- Saint Paul Public Library · Saint Paul · 310,997 residents
- Washington County Library · Woodbury · 257,137 residents