Lafayette Public Library
Lafayette Public Library is a county public library system based in Lafayette, Louisiana, serving a legal service area of 254,241 residents through nine library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 67 profiled systems in Louisiana, it ranks second for physical checkouts, fourth for total visits, fifth for population served and sixth for operating spending.
Among the 109 profiled systems serving 250,000 to 499,999 residents, it ranks eighth-lowest for the electronic share of checkouts. Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.0 times the public computers per resident and 74% more paid staff per resident.
Lafayette against the 122 systems of its size class
Lafayette since FY 2019
Visits were 35% below the FY 2019 count of 1.2 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 34% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Lafayette programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 70% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 20 people each.
Lafayette in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 757,600
- Physical checkouts
- 1,370,257
- …of children's materials
- 698,783
- Electronic checkouts
- 301,637
- …of e-books
- 155,211
- …of e-audio
- 143,180
- Registered users
- 128,701
- Program sessions
- 4,049
- Program attendance
- 82,401
- Print volumes
- 408,540
- Audio items (physical)
- 31,405
- Video items (physical)
- 92,428
- Public computers
- 316
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 22,932
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 139.0
- Operating spending
- $11.2 million
- …on books and other materials
- $823,997
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Lafayette gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $14.6 million, or $57.25 per resident. The local-government share sits 6 percentage points below the combined share for the 67 profiled systems in Louisiana. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Lafayette, building by building
The nine buildings cover 156,121 square feet in total, 0.61 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Lafayette Public Library at 65,449 square feet; the smallest is Butler Memorial Branch at 845. The longest hours, 61 a week, are shared by two buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette Public Library | Central library | Lafayette | 61 | 65,449 |
| Butler Memorial Branch | Branch | Lafayette | 12 | 845 |
| Chenier Center Branch | Branch | Lafayette | 49 | 3,175 |
| Duson Branch | Branch | Duson | 35 | 1,600 |
| East Regional Library | Branch | Youngsville | 60 | 15,000 |
| Milton Branch | Branch | Milton | 35 | 2,388 |
| North Regional Library | Branch | Carencro | 60 | 12,564 |
| South Regional Library | Branch | Lafayette | 61 | 37,600 |
| West Regional Library | Branch | Scott | 60 | 17,500 |
| Lafayette Public Library Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Lafayette | 35 |
County libraries of similar size in other states
None of these six systems records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Harford County Public Library in Maryland.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harford County Public Library | Belcamp, MD | 262,977 | 2.95 | 8.70 | $93.48 |
| Union County Public Library | Monroe, NC | 257,682 | 1.41 | 3.19 | $25.20 |
| Henry County Library System | McDonough, GA | 257,669 | 0.76 | 1.28 | $13.93 |
| Washington County Library | Woodbury, MN | 257,137 | 2.66 | 6.81 | $37.83 |
| Yavapai County Free Library District | Prescott, AZ | 251,768 | 0.46 | 0.73 | $13.82 |
| Ventura County Library | Ventura, CA | 244,172 | 1.25 | 2.48 | $52.64 |
Nearest in size within Louisiana
- St. Tammany Parish Library · Covington · 277,615 residents
- Shreve Memorial Library · Shreveport · 224,893 residents
- Calcasieu Parish Public Library · Lake Charles · 206,861 residents
- New Orleans Public Library · New Orleans · 362,701 residents