librarysystems

Hennepin County Library

Minnetonka, MinnesotaHennepin CountyCounty librarySmall cityFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Hennepin County Library is a county public library system based in Minnetonka (Hennepin County), Minnesota, serving a legal service area of 1,297,847 residents through 41 library buildings. Of all systems profiled nationwide, it ranks third for physical checkouts, sixth for print volumes and eighth for electronic checkouts.

Among the 132 profiled systems in Minnesota, it leads on population served, total visits, operating spending and number of library buildings. Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks first for visits per resident, first for physical checkouts per resident and first for library floor space per resident and records the smallest decline in visits since FY 2019, but ranks ninth-lowest for program attendance per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

Hennepin County against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class3.69Visitsper resident99th percentile8.86Checkoutsper resident99th percentile$57.68Spendingper resident73rd percentile2.95Print volumesper resident96th percentile113Program visitsper 1,000 people25th percentile8.7Computersper 10,000 people76th percentile47.1Open hoursper outlet a week48th percentile4.1Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people81st percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident3.6999th pct.Checkouts per resident8.8699th pct.Spending per resident$57.6873rd pct.Print volumes per resident2.9596th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people11325th pct.Computers per 10,000 people8.776th pct.Open hours per outlet a week47.148th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people4.181st pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Hennepin County since FY 2019

Visits were 7% below the FY 2019 count of 5.2 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 19% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 10060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 10060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Hennepin County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 72% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 15 people each.

Children 0–11105,711Young adults 12–184,748Adults 19+29,793General interest6,327
Children 0–11105,711Young adults 12–184,748Adults 19+29,793General interest6,327

Hennepin County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
4,791,011
Physical checkouts
11,495,799
…of children's materials
6,476,360
Electronic checkouts
6,304,516
…of e-books
2,990,562
…of e-audio
2,704,104
Registered users
646,260
Program sessions
9,940
Program attendance
146,579
Print volumes
3,822,555
Audio items (physical)
109,760
Video items (physical)
85,994
Public computers
1,130
Public service hours, all outlets
100,381
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
533.8
Operating spending
$74.9 million
…on books and other materials
$8.4 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Hennepin County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $74.9 million, or $57.68 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 132 profiled systems in Minnesota.

This system90%All profiled systems in Minnesota89%
This system90%All profiled systems in Minnesota89%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Hennepin County, building by building

The 41 buildings cover 1,184,701 square feet in total, 0.91 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Minneapolis Central Library at 406,354 square feet; the smallest is St. Bonifacius Library at 1,056. The longest hours, 63.1 a week, are shared by eight buildings.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Minneapolis Central LibraryCentral libraryMinneapolis63.1406,354
Arvonne Fraser LibraryBranchMinneapolis46.613,304
Augsburg Park LibraryBranchRichfield47.816,786
Brookdale LibraryBranchBrooklyn Center63.168,717
Brooklyn Park LibraryBranchBrooklyn Park63.139,385
Champlin LibraryBranchChamplin46.68,966
East Lake LibraryBranchMinneapolis51.618,058
Eden Prairie LibraryBranchEden Prairie63.153,620
Edina LibraryBranchEdina51.617,280
Excelsior LibraryBranchExcelsior46.67,563
Franklin LibraryBranchMinneapolis51.613,283
Golden Valley LibraryBranchGolden Valley51.615,455
Hopkins LibraryBranchHopkins51.612,476
Hosmer LibraryBranchMinneapolis51.616,122
Linden Hills LibraryBranchMinneapolis46.68,288
Long Lake LibraryBranchLong Lake22.91,883
Maple Grove LibraryBranchMaple Grove63.140,034
Maple Plain LibraryBranchMaple Plain39.45,483
Minnetonka LibraryBranchMinnetonka46.64,572
Nokomis LibraryBranchMinneapolis46.617,540
North Regional LibraryBranchMinneapolis51.638,993
Northeast LibraryBranchMinneapolis46.616,222
Osseo LibraryBranchOsseo40.41,380
Oxboro LibraryBranchBloomington46.614,408
Penn Lake LibraryBranchBloomington51.614,909
Pierre Bottineau LibraryBranchMinneapolis4712,697
Plymouth LibraryBranchPlymouth63.130,396
Ridgedale LibraryBranchMinnetonka63.153,766
Rockford Road LibraryBranchCrystal51.718,791
Rogers LibraryBranchRogers46.64,168
Roosevelt LibraryBranchMinneapolis46.65,788
Southdale LibraryBranchEdina63.189,158
St. Anthony LibraryBranchSt. Anthony46.65,119
St. Bonifacius LibraryBranchSt. Bonifacius23.41,056
St. Louis Park LibraryBranchSt. Louis Park51.615,051
Sumner LibraryBranchMinneapolis42.318,263
Walker LibraryBranchMinneapolis46.614,212
Washburn LibraryBranchMinneapolis46.618,482
Wayzata LibraryBranchWayzata46.69,665
Webber Park LibraryBranchMinneapolis46.68,419
Westonka LibraryBranchMound46.68,589

County libraries of similar size in other states

None of these six systems records more visits per resident than this one. None of them matches this system's checkouts per resident.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Hillsborough County Public Library CooperativeTampa, FL1,559,6781.622.32$37.59
Riverside County Library SystemJurupa Valley, CA1,381,0451.331.95$29.08
Wake County Public LibrariesRaleigh, NC1,194,9002.557.46$29.66
San Diego County LibrarySan Diego, CA1,111,5272.505.26$61.63
Fulton County Library SystemAtlanta, GA1,094,6932.132.10$27.24
Montgomery County Public LibrariesRockville, MD1,054,8273.366.90$44.50

Nearest in size within Minnesota

All profiled systems in Minnesota