Mercer County Library
Mercer County Library is a county public library system based in Lawrenceville (Mercer County), New Jersey, serving a legal service area of 168,771 residents through nine library buildings. Among profiled systems serving 100,000 to 249,999 residents, it ranks second for print volumes per resident, second for program attendance per resident and sixth for visits per resident.
Among profiled systems in New Jersey, it ranks second for total visits, third for operating spending, third for program attendance and fourth for physical checkouts. Against the median system of its size class, it records 3.0 times the operating spending per resident and 2.8 times the physical checkouts per resident.
Mercer County against the 360 systems of its size class
Mercer County, building by building
The nine buildings cover 160,200 square feet in total, 0.95 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Mercer County Library at 58,000 square feet; the smallest is Hollowbrook Branch Library at 1,000. The longest hours, 42.2 a week, are shared by three buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer County Library | Central library | Lawrenceville | 42.2 | 58,000 |
| Ewing Branch Library | Branch | Trenton | 42 | 25,000 |
| Hickory Corner Road Branch | Branch | East Windsor | 42.2 | 14,200 |
| Hightstown Memorial Library | Branch | Hightstown | 42.1 | 4,800 |
| Hollowbrook Branch Library | Branch | Trenton | 38.5 | 1,000 |
| Hopewell Branch Library | Branch | Pennington | 40.2 | 14,800 |
| Twin Rivers Branch Library | Branch | East Windsor | 40.2 | 10,500 |
| Washington Township Branch Library | Branch | Robbinsville | 40.2 | 8,900 |
| West Windsor Branch Library | Branch | Princeton Junct. | 42.2 | 23,000 |
Mercer County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 917,887
- Physical checkouts
- 1,444,391
- …of children's materials
- 279,618
- Electronic checkouts
- 238,582
- …of e-books
- 88,085
- …of e-audio
- 99,360
- Registered users
- 91,212
- Program sessions
- 7,611
- Program attendance
- 169,561
- Print volumes
- 605,992
- Audio items (physical)
- 44,041
- Video items (physical)
- 75,149
- Public computers
- 92
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 16,389
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 135.8
- Operating spending
- $17.3 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1.4 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Mercer County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $17.3 million, or $102.71 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 262 profiled systems in New Jersey. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Mercer County since FY 2019
Visits were 28% below the FY 2019 count of 1.3 million (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 9% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Mercer County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 52% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 22 people each.
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 Greene County Public Library in Ohio.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian River County Library | Vero Beach, FL | 171,029 | 1.84 | 3.67 | $26.41 |
| Sheppard Memorial Library | Greenville, NC | 170,353 | 1.43 | 2.14 | $15.21 |
| Davidson County Public Library System | Lexington, NC | 169,229 | 1.83 | 1.96 | $28.12 |
| Charles County Public Library | LA Plata, MD | 168,698 | 1.99 | 3.43 | $43.81 |
| Greene County Public Library | Xenia, OH | 167,966 | 2.55 | 11.75 | $80.37 |
| Delaware County District Library | Delaware, OH | 165,831 | 2.94 | 9.18 | $51.54 |
Nearest in size within New Jersey
- Paterson Free Public Library · Paterson · 159,732 residents
- Elizabeth Free Public Library · Elizabeth · 137,298 residents
- Atlantic County Library · Mays Landing · 214,422 residents
- Somerset County Library · Bridgewater · 224,243 residents