Meridian District
Meridian District is a library district based in Meridian (Ada County), Idaho, serving a legal service area of 147,406 residents through five library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 103 profiled systems in Idaho, it ranks second for population served, second for total visits, second for physical checkouts and second for operating spending.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.7 times the physical checkouts per resident and 2.3 times the paid staff per resident.
Meridian against the 360 systems of its size class
Meridian, building by building
The five buildings cover 53,948 square feet in total, 0.37 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Meridian District at 29,644 square feet; the smallest is Meridian District-Tiny Branch at 320. The longest hours, 61.8 a week, are shared by two buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian District | Central library | Meridian | 61.8 | 29,644 |
| Meridian District-Orchard Park | Branch | Meridian | 25.8 | 15,700 |
| Meridian District-Silverstone Branch | Branch | Meridian | 61.8 | 4,584 |
| Meridian District-Tiny Branch | Branch | Meridian | 23.2 | 320 |
| Meridian District-Unbound Branch | Branch | Meridian | 58 | 3,700 |
| Meridian District-Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Meridian | 8.1 |
Meridian in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 464,279
- Physical checkouts
- 1,196,895
- …of children's materials
- 728,362
- Electronic checkouts
- 459,684
- …of e-books
- 180,366
- …of e-audio
- 233,916
- Registered users
- 54,271
- Program sessions
- 2,083
- Program attendance
- 50,954
- Print volumes
- 205,171
- Audio items (physical)
- 4,419
- Video items (physical)
- 18,120
- Public computers
- 84
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 12,417
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 115.0
- Operating spending
- $7.6 million
- …on books and other materials
- $922,450
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Meridian gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $9.3 million, or $63.19 per resident. The local-government share sits 3 percentage points below the combined share for the 103 profiled systems in Idaho.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Who comes to Meridian programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 56% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 24 people each.
Nearest in size within Idaho
- Community Library Network · Post Falls · 136,100 residents
- Nampa Public · Nampa · 115,008 residents
- Boise Public Library · Boise · 243,657 residents
- Caldwell Public · Caldwell · 70,901 residents
Library districts 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 Whatcom County Library System in Washington.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter County Public Library System | Valparaiso, IN | 152,580 | 2.87 | 5.06 | $43.74 |
| Gail Borden Public Library District | Elgin, IL | 149,907 | 4.26 | 5.66 | $114.78 |
| Scenic Regional Library | Union, MO | 147,730 | 2.49 | 3.11 | $28.64 |
| Warren County Public Library | Bowling Green, KY | 142,229 | 2.73 | 4.69 | $28.50 |
| Tippecanoe County Public Library | Lafayette, IN | 141,306 | 1.68 | 7.64 | $38.46 |
| Whatcom County Library System | Bellingham, WA | 140,730 | 3.93 | 10.57 | $76.89 |