Kansas City Public Library
Kansas City Public Library is a library district based in Kansas City (Jackson County), Missouri, serving a legal service area of 232,498 residents through 10 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among profiled systems in Missouri, it ranks first for the electronic share of checkouts, second for operating spending per resident, third for total visits and fourth for operating spending.
Among profiled systems serving 100,000 to 249,999 residents, it ranks fourth for visits per resident, eighth for library floor space per resident and tenth for paid staff per resident. Against the median system of its size class, it records 92% more print volumes per resident and 70% more program attendance per resident.
Kansas City against the 360 systems of its size class
Kansas City since FY 2019
Visits were 20% below the FY 2019 count of 1.7 million (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 27% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Kansas City programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 65% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 23 people each.
Kansas City in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,321,249
- Physical checkouts
- 907,582
- …of children's materials
- 390,408
- Electronic checkouts
- 1,500,682
- …of e-books
- 392,235
- …of e-audio
- 856,086
- Registered users
- 263,880
- Program sessions
- 3,875
- Program attendance
- 88,564
- Print volumes
- 616,768
- Audio items (physical)
- 40,147
- Video items (physical)
- 47,218
- Public computers
- 186
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 31,512
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 229.5
- Operating spending
- $30.4 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2.8 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Kansas City gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $33 million, or $141.83 per resident. The local-government share sits 6 percentage points below the combined share for the 148 profiled systems in Missouri. Federal money made up 1.4% of the total.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Kansas City, building by building
The 10 buildings cover 315,950 square feet in total, 1.36 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Central Library at 175,000 square feet; the smallest is Sugar Creek Branch at 2,100. The longest hours are at Plaza Branch, 76 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Library | Central library | Kansas City | 58 | 175,000 |
| Irene H. Ruiz Biblioteca de Las Americas | Branch | Kansas City | 42 | 4,000 |
| Lucile H. Bluford Branch | Branch | Kansas City | 66 | 15,000 |
| North-East Branch | Branch | Kansas City | 64 | 15,850 |
| Plaza Branch | Branch | Kansas City | 76 | 52,000 |
| Southeast Branch | Branch | Kansas City | 55 | 15,000 |
| Sugar Creek Branch | Branch | Sugar Creek | 36 | 2,100 |
| Trails West Branch | Branch | Independence | 64 | 15,000 |
| Waldo Branch | Branch | Kansas City | 67 | 15,000 |
| Westport Branch | Branch | Kansas City | 46 | 7,000 |
| Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Kansas City | 32 |
Library districts 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 Ann Arbor District Library in Michigan.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinton-Macomb Public Library | Clinton Township, MI | 184,879 | 2.32 | 6.89 | $39.68 |
| Hamilton East Public Library | Noblesville, IN | 180,617 | 2.90 | 9.20 | $58.97 |
| Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library | Evansville, IN | 180,136 | 3.82 | 4.96 | $85.94 |
| Ann Arbor District Library | Ann Arbor, MI | 177,696 | 8.13 | 26.35 | $106.38 |
| Kenton County Public Library | Erlanger, KY | 171,321 | 3.56 | 7.45 | $79.98 |
| St. Joseph County Public Library | South Bend, IN | 170,799 | 4.79 | 7.86 | $107.03 |
Nearest in size within Missouri
- Daniel Boone Regional Library · Columbia · 223,840 residents
- Springfield-Greene County Library District · Springfield · 298,915 residents
- City of St. Louis Municipal Library District · St. Louis · 301,578 residents
- Scenic Regional Library · Union · 147,730 residents