librarysystems

Knox County Public Library System

Knoxville, TennesseeCounty libraryMid-size cityFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

Knox County Public Library System is a county public library system based in Knoxville (Knox County), Tennessee, serving a legal service area of 500,669 residents through 19 library buildings. Among the 184 profiled systems in Tennessee, it ranks second for total visits, second for physical checkouts, second for electronic checkouts and third for population served.

Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks ninth for print volumes per resident and records the fourth-largest gain in physical checkouts since FY 2019. Against the median system of its size class, it records 47% fewer public computers per resident and 37% less operating spending per resident.

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

Knox County against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.07Visitsper resident40th percentile4.34Checkoutsper resident53rd percentile$30.08Spendingper resident29th percentile2.10Print volumesper resident86th percentile177Program visitsper 1,000 people43rd percentile3.3Computersper 10,000 people19th percentile43.8Open hoursper outlet a week32nd percentile3.4Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people39th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.0740th pct.Checkouts per resident4.3453rd pct.Spending per resident$30.0829th pct.Print volumes per resident2.1086th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people17743rd pct.Computers per 10,000 people3.319th pct.Open hours per outlet a week43.832nd pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people3.439th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Knox County since FY 2019

Visits were 20% below the FY 2019 count of 1.3 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 2% up over the same span.

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

Who comes to Knox County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 82% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 35 people each.

Children 0–1172,746Young adults 12–18455Adults 19+15,411
Children 0–1172,746Young adults 12–18455Adults 19+15,411

Knox County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
1,035,988
Physical checkouts
2,174,505
…of children's materials
1,247,889
Electronic checkouts
1,031,878
…of e-books
550,664
…of e-audio
481,214
Registered users
182,573
Program sessions
2,511
Program attendance
88,612
Print volumes
1,051,919
Audio items (physical)
39,436
Video items (physical)
41,055
Public computers
166
Public service hours, all outlets
43,270
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
168.8
Operating spending
$15.1 million
…on books and other materials
$2.1 million
Overdue fines on print items
charged

Where Knox County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $15.2 million, or $30.30 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 184 profiled systems in Tennessee.

This system95%All profiled systems in Tennessee94%
This system95%All profiled systems in Tennessee94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Knox County, building by building

The 19 buildings cover 301,326 square feet in total, 0.60 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is McClung, E.tn History Center & Knox Archives at 105,000 square feet; the smallest is Mascot Branch Library at 1,254. The longest hours are at Lawson McGhee Library, 63.5 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Lawson McGhee LibraryCentral libraryKnoxville63.570,600
Burlington Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville46.512,000
Carter Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville39.65,315
Cedar Bluff Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville5513,046
Corryton Branch LibraryBranchCorryton202,100
Farragut Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville5510,100
Fountain City Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville52.511,571
Halls Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville52.511,586
Howard Pinkston Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville39.56,050
Karns Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville39.58,520
Mascot Branch LibraryBranchMascot201,254
McClung, E.tn History Center & Knox ArchivesBranchKnoxville60.5105,000
Murphy Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville222,175
North Knoxville Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville403,421
Norwood Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville484,428
Powell Branch LibraryBranchPowell52.511,743
Sequoyah Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville403,528
South Knoxville Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville52.54,889
West Knoxville Branch LibraryBranchKnoxville52.514,000

County libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, two 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
Greenville County Library SystemGreenville, SC525,5342.475.56$41.58
Morris County LibraryWhippany, NJ509,2850.240.51$15.21
Washoe County Library SystemReno, NV508,7591.482.64$30.63
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

Nearest in size within Tennessee

All profiled systems in Tennessee