Greenville County Library System
Greenville County Library System is a county public library system based in Greenville, South Carolina, serving a legal service area of 525,534 residents through 12 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina, it leads on population served, physical checkouts and print volumes and ranks first for physical checkouts per resident, but ranks last for public computers per resident.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 23% more program attendance per resident and 13% less operating spending per resident.
Greenville County against the 61 systems of its size class
Greenville County, building by building
The 12 buildings cover 265,812 square feet in total, 0.51 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Greenville County Library: Hughes Library at 119,215 square feet; the smallest is Travelers Rest Branch at 10,929. The longest hours, 67.8 a week, are shared by two buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville County Library: Hughes Library | Central library | Greenville | 67.8 | 119,215 |
| Anderson Road Branch | Branch | Greenville | 64.1 | 11,306 |
| Augusta Road Branch | Branch | Greenville | 64.1 | 11,500 |
| Berea Branch | Branch | Greenville | 64.1 | 11,173 |
| Five Forks Branch | Branch | Simpsonville | 67.8 | 28,064 |
| Fountain Inn Branch | Branch | Fountain Inn | 64.1 | 11,306 |
| Greer Branch | Branch | Greer | 64.1 | 16,350 |
| Mauldin Branch | Branch | Greenville | 64.1 | 11,454 |
| Pelham Road Branch | Branch | Greenville | 64.1 | 12,050 |
| Simpsonville Branch | Branch | Simpsonville | 64.1 | 11,159 |
| Taylors Branch | Branch | Taylors | 64.1 | 11,306 |
| Travelers Rest Branch | Branch | Travelers Rest | 63.6 | 10,929 |
| Greenville County Library Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Greenville | 8.3 |
Greenville County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,298,695
- Physical checkouts
- 2,923,344
- …of children's materials
- 1,703,861
- Electronic checkouts
- 1,085,982
- …of e-books
- 379,134
- …of e-audio
- 612,448
- Registered users
- 191,483
- Program sessions
- 2,853
- Program attendance
- 118,366
- Print volumes
- 710,966
- Audio items (physical)
- 71,287
- Video items (physical)
- 68,176
- Public computers
- 128
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 40,658
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 218.3
- Operating spending
- $21.9 million
- …on books and other materials
- $3.3 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Greenville County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $26.4 million, or $50.15 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Who comes to Greenville County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 80% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 41 people each.
Nearest in size within South Carolina
- Richland County Public Library · Columbia · 416,147 residents
- Charleston County Public Library System · Charleston · 408,235 residents
- Horry County Memorial Library · Conway · 351,029 residents
- Spartanburg County Public Library System · Spartanburg · 327,997 residents
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 Jefferson County Public Library in Colorado.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County Public Library | Lakewood, CO | 576,381 | 3.39 | 11.22 | $77.67 |
| Stanislaus County Free Library | Modesto, CA | 548,744 | 1.42 | 2.22 | $27.67 |
| Morris County Library | Whippany, NJ | 509,285 | 0.24 | 0.51 | $15.21 |
| Washoe County Library System | Reno, NV | 508,759 | 1.48 | 2.64 | $30.63 |
| Knox County Public Library System | Knoxville, TN | 500,669 | 2.07 | 4.34 | $30.08 |
| Pinal County Library District | Florence, AZ | 483,944 | 0.11 | 0.44 | $5.69 |