Lake County Public Library
Lake County Public Library is a library district based in Merrillville (Lake County), Indiana, serving a legal service area of 251,041 residents through nine library buildings. Among the 235 profiled systems in Indiana, it ranks third for population served, fourth for number of library buildings, fifth for total visits and fifth for physical checkouts.
Among profiled systems serving 250,000 to 499,999 residents, it ranks eighth for library floor space per resident and tenth for print volumes per resident. Against the median system of its size class, it records 73% more physical checkouts per resident and 58% more paid staff per resident.
Lake County against the 122 systems of its size class
Lake County, building by building
The nine buildings cover 247,966 square feet in total, 0.99 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Lake County Public Library at 110,178 square feet; the smallest is Highland Branch Library at 10,000. The longest hours are at Lake County Public Library, 62 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake County Public Library | Central library | Merrillville | 62 | 110,178 |
| Cedar Lake Branch | Branch | Cedar Lake | 47.8 | 20,000 |
| Dyer-Schererville Branch | Branch | Schererville | 58 | 26,000 |
| Griffith-Calumet Township Branch | Branch | Griffith | 48 | 16,000 |
| Highland Branch Library | Branch | Highland | 48 | 10,000 |
| Hobart Branch Library | Branch | Hobart | 47.7 | 16,888 |
| Lake Station-New Chicago Branch | Branch | Lake Station | 47.6 | 16,000 |
| Munster Branch | Branch | Munster | 58 | 16,900 |
| St. John Branch | Branch | St. John | 48 | 16,000 |
Lake County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 688,261
- Physical checkouts
- 1,537,944
- …of children's materials
- 696,969
- Electronic checkouts
- 702,030
- …of e-books
- 316,993
- …of e-audio
- 304,169
- Registered users
- 89,038
- Program sessions
- 2,857
- Program attendance
- 43,111
- Print volumes
- 674,978
- Audio items (physical)
- 64,821
- Video items (physical)
- 119,123
- Public computers
- 210
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 24,186
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 124.6
- Operating spending
- $13 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2.6 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Lake County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $15.1 million, or $60.18 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 235 profiled systems in Indiana. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Lake County since FY 2019
Visits were 42% below the FY 2019 count of 1.2 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 32% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Lake County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 69% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 15 people each.
Library districts of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, three record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Arapahoe Library District in Colorado.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arapahoe Library District | Englewood, CO | 277,382 | 5.02 | 9.28 | $155.44 |
| Mid-Columbia Libraries | Kennewick, WA | 272,954 | 1.86 | 5.48 | $33.77 |
| Yakima Valley Regional Library | Yakima, WA | 251,520 | 1.63 | 2.09 | $32.36 |
| Capital Area District Library | Lansing, MI | 244,451 | 3.08 | 6.76 | $54.51 |
| Kansas City Public Library | Kansas City, MO | 232,498 | 5.68 | 3.90 | $130.95 |
| Mohave County Library District | Kingman, AZ | 228,107 | 1.47 | 1.59 | $26.61 |
Nearest in size within Indiana
- Hamilton East Public Library · Noblesville · 180,617 residents
- Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library · Evansville · 180,136 residents
- St. Joseph County Public Library · South Bend · 170,799 residents
- Allen County Public Library · Fort Wayne · 385,410 residents