librarysystems

King County Library System

Issaquah, WashingtonKing CountyLibrary districtLarge suburbFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

King County Library System is a library district based in Issaquah (King County), Washington, serving a legal service area of 1,607,650 residents through 49 library buildings and 12 bookmobiles. Of all systems profiled nationwide, it ranks second for physical checkouts, second for electronic checkouts, seventh for total visits and seventh for operating spending.

Among the 57 profiled systems in Washington, it leads on population served, program attendance, public computers and print volumes. Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks second for operating spending per resident, third for physical checkouts per resident, fifth for visits per resident and fifth for paid staff per resident, but records the sixth-steepest decline in visits since FY 2019.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

King County against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class3.35Visitsper resident87th percentile7.16Checkoutsper resident93rd percentile$90.15Spendingper resident96th percentile1.17Print volumesper resident59th percentile224Program visitsper 1,000 people57th percentile7.8Computersper 10,000 people70th percentile5.0Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people87th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident3.3587th pct.Checkouts per resident7.1693rd pct.Spending per resident$90.1596th pct.Print volumes per resident1.1759th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people22457th pct.Computers per 10,000 people7.870th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people5.087th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

King County since FY 2019

Visits were 44% below the FY 2019 count of 9.7 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 21% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to King County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 57% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 21 people each.

Children 0–11205,767Young adults 12–1812,664Adults 19+43,803General interest97,510
Children 0–11205,767Young adults 12–1812,664Adults 19+43,803General interest97,510

King County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
5,392,072
Physical checkouts
11,515,523
…of children's materials
8,092,365
Electronic checkouts
10,919,747
…of e-books
5,637,032
…of e-audio
4,013,470
Registered users
676,531
Program sessions
17,209
Program attendance
359,744
Print volumes
1,882,412
Audio items (physical)
134,449
Video items (physical)
113,074
Public computers
1,249
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
807.5
Operating spending
$145 million
…on books and other materials
$10.2 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where King County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $15 million, or $93.05 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 56 profiled systems in Washington.

This system92%All profiled systems in Washington94%
This system92%All profiled systems in Washington94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

King County, building by building

The 49 buildings cover 645,484 square feet in total, 0.40 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Bellevue Library at 80,000 square feet; the smallest is Library Express @ Redmond Ridge at 300.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Algona-Pacific LibraryBranchPacific–5,250
Auburn LibraryBranchAuburn–20,000
Bellevue LibraryBranchBellevue–80,000
Black Diamond LibraryBranchBlack Diamond–5,000
Bothell LibraryBranchBothell–22,500
Boulevard Park LibraryBranchSeattle–6,536
Burien LibraryBranchBurien–32,000
Carnation LibraryBranchCarnation–5,000
Covington LibraryBranchCovington–23,000
Crossroads LibraryBranchBellevue–3,740
Des Moines LibraryBranchDes Moines–10,230
Duvall LibraryBranchDuvall–8,000
Enumclaw LibraryBranchEnumclaw–10,541
Fairwood LibraryBranchRenton–20,000
Fall City LibraryBranchFall City–5,000
Federal Way 320th LibraryBranchFederal Way–15,000
Federal Way LibraryBranchFederal Way–34,500
Greenbridge LibraryBranchSeattle–2,300
Issaquah LibraryBranchIssaquah–15,000
Kenmore LibraryBranchKenmore–10,000
Kent LibraryBranchKent–22,600
Kent Panther LakeBranchKent–5,300
Kingsgate LibraryBranchKirkland–10,235
Kirkland LibraryBranchKirkland–19,500
Lake Forest Park LibraryBranchLake Forest Park–5,840
Lake Hills LibraryBranchBellevue–10,000
Library Express @ Redmond RidgeBranchRedmond–300
Maple Valley LibraryBranchMaple Valley–10,000
Mercer Island LibraryBranchMercer Island–14,886
Muckleshoot LibraryBranchAuburn–6,000
Newcastle LibraryBranchNewcastle–11,000
Newport Way LibraryBranchBellevue–8,690
North Bend LibraryBranchNorth Bend–9,853
Redmond LibraryBranchRedmond–30,000
Renton Highlands LibraryBranchRenton–6,500
Renton LibraryBranchRenton–22,237
Richmond Beach LibraryBranchShoreline–5,250
Sammamish LibraryBranchSammamish–19,500
Shoreline LibraryBranchShoreline–20,954
Skykomish LibraryBranchSkykomish–1,042
Skyway LibraryBranchSeattle–5,100
Snoqualmie LibraryBranchSnoqualmie–6,000
Southcenter LibraryBranchTukwila–3,322
Tukwila LibraryBranchTukwila–10,000
Valley View LibraryBranchSeatac–6,558
Vashon LibraryBranchVashon Island–10,000
White Center LibraryBranchSeattle–6,370
Woodinville LibraryBranchWoodinville–15,000
Woodmont LibraryBranchDes Moines–9,850
Library2go12 bookmobilesIssaquah–

A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.

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 Multnomah County Library in Oregon.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Las Vegas-Clark County Library DistrictLas Vegas, NV1,721,8512.243.82$51.67
Orange County Library DistrictOrlando, FL1,457,3301.532.77$35.79
Indianapolis Public LibraryIndianapolis, IN963,2512.475.73$62.55
Saint Louis County LibrarySt. Louis, MO863,4074.088.33$70.90
Mid-Continent Public LibraryIndependence, MO840,2922.965.99$82.29
Multnomah County LibraryPortland, OR802,4642.1912.35$121.00

Nearest in size within Washington

All profiled systems in Washington