librarysystems

Kern County Library

Bakersfield, CaliforniaKern CountyCounty libraryLarge cityFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

Kern County Library is a county public library system based in Bakersfield (Kern County), California, serving a legal service area of 888,074 residents through 22 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks last for operating spending per resident, last for weekly open hours per outlet and third-lowest for paid staff per resident.

By population served it is the 11th-largest of the 170 profiled systems in California. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 22% of the physical checkouts per resident and only 36% of the visits per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 500,000 to 999,999

Kern County against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class0.79Visitsper resident7th percentile0.85Checkoutsper resident6th percentile$11.75Spendingper resident1st percentile0.74Print volumesper resident14th percentile280Program visitsper 1,000 people66th percentile2.5Computersper 10,000 people7th percentile19.2Open hoursper outlet a week1st percentile1.5Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people4th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident0.797th pct.Checkouts per resident0.856th pct.Spending per resident$11.751st pct.Print volumes per resident0.7414th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people28066th pct.Computers per 10,000 people2.57th pct.Open hours per outlet a week19.21st pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people1.54th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Kern County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
705,455
Physical checkouts
752,815
…of children's materials
426,321
Electronic checkouts
229,126
…of e-books
113,948
…of e-audio
111,730
Registered users
82,211
Program sessions
15,230
Program attendance
248,587
Print volumes
654,655
Audio items (physical)
27,903
Video items (physical)
19,519
Public computers
222
Public service hours, all outlets
22,975
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
137.5
Operating spending
$10.4 million
…on books and other materials
$442,706
Overdue fines on print items
charged

Where Kern County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $10.6 million, or $11.96 per resident. The local-government share sits 13 percentage points below the combined share for the 170 profiled systems in California. Federal money made up 13.3% of the total.

This system81%13%All profiled systems in California94%
This system81%All profiled systems in California94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

County libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, five record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Johnson County Library in Kansas.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Pinal County Library DistrictFlorence, AZ483,9440.110.44$5.69
Onondaga County Public LibrarySyracuse, NY476,5161.040.68$27.95
Johnson County LibraryOverland Park, KS474,7763.9410.93$114.39
East Baton Rouge Parish LibraryBaton Rouge, LA453,0223.883.16$100.46
Dayton Metro LibraryDayton, OH452,2384.406.51$83.51
Osceola Library SystemKissimmee, FL450,9891.521.79$18.18

Kern County since FY 2019

Visits were 35% below the FY 2019 count of 1.1 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 14% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 1005060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 1005060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Kern County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 75% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 16 people each.

Children 0–11186,407Young adults 12–1810,306Adults 19+12,097General interest39,777
Children 0–11186,407Young adults 12–1810,306Adults 19+12,097General interest39,777

Kern County, building by building

The 22 buildings cover 277,657 square feet in total, 0.31 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Beale Memorial Library at 128,165 square feet; the smallest is Mojave Branch Library at 1,784. The longest hours are at Beale Memorial Library, 35.8 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Beale Memorial LibraryCentral libraryBakersfield35.8128,165
Arvin Branch LibraryBranchArvin20.28,182
Baker Branch LibraryBranchBakersfield12.94,242
Boron Branch LibraryBranchBoron6.53,000
Buttonwillow Branch LibraryBranchButtonwillow16.23,240
California City Branch LibraryBranchCalifornia City13.96,110
Delano Branch LibraryBranchDelano20.36,010
Eleanor N. Wilson Branch LibraryBranchBakersfield20.96,321
Frazier Park Branch LibraryBranchFrazier Park20.310,000
Holloway-Gonzales Branch LibraryBranchBakersfield13.37,465
Kern River Valley Branch LibraryBranchLake Isabella25.25,968
Lamont Branch LibraryBranchLamont13.311,426
McFarland Branch LibraryBranchMcFarland30.96,207
Mojave Branch LibraryBranchMojave13.21,784
Northeast Branch LibraryBranchBakersfield20.33,874
Rathbun Branch LibraryBranchBakersfield20.27,560
Ridgecrest Branch LibraryBranchRidgecrest32.37,465
Rosamond Branch LibraryBranchRosamond20.216,290
Southwest Branch LibraryBranchBakersfield30.518,336
Taft Branch LibraryBranchTaft204,726
Tehachapi Branch LibraryBranchTehachapi31.66,886
Wasco Branch LibraryBranchWasco13.24,400

Nearest in size within California

All profiled systems in California