Mesa Public Library
Mesa Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Mesa (Maricopa County), Arizona, serving a legal service area of 524,892 residents through four library buildings. Among the 61 profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks third-lowest for program attendance per resident, fifth-lowest for operating spending per resident and seventh-lowest for paid staff per resident.
Among profiled systems in Arizona, it ranks third for electronic checkouts, fourth for population served, fourth for physical checkouts and fifth for total visits. Against the median system of its size class, it records 43% fewer visits per resident and 42% fewer public computers per resident.
Mesa against the 61 systems of its size class
Mesa since FY 2019
Visits were 43% below the FY 2019 count of 1.1 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 27% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Mesa programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 82% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 28 people each.
Mesa in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 649,237
- Physical checkouts
- 1,595,214
- …of children's materials
- 862,123
- Electronic checkouts
- 956,331
- …of e-books
- 451,910
- …of e-audio
- 361,358
- Registered users
- 105,999
- Program sessions
- 1,755
- Program attendance
- 49,765
- Print volumes
- 400,710
- Audio items (physical)
- 16,567
- Video items (physical)
- 39,388
- Public computers
- 191
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 106.6
- Operating spending
- $8.8 million
- …on books and other materials
- $975,353
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Mesa gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $8.8 million, or $16.78 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 53 profiled systems in Arizona. Federal money made up 1.6% of the total.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Mesa, building by building
The largest building is Mesa Public Library at 106,000 square feet; the smallest is Dobson Ranch Library at 18,600. The longest hours, 58.1 a week, are shared by three buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa Public Library | Central library | Mesa | 58.1 | 106,000 |
| City of Mesa Red Mountain Library | Branch | Mesa | 58.1 | 50,000 |
| Dobson Ranch Library | Branch | Mesa | 58.1 | 18,600 |
| Mesa Express Library at Monterey Park | Branch | Mesa | – | – |
A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
All six of these systems record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Omaha Public Library in Nebraska.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Public Library | Milwaukee, WI | 577,895 | 2.00 | 1.86 | $59.20 |
| Enoch Pratt Free Library | Baltimore, MD | 576,498 | 2.07 | 2.18 | $92.89 |
| Omaha Public Library | Omaha, NE | 571,013 | 2.31 | 4.97 | $36.23 |
| Long Beach Public Library | Long Beach, CA | 458,813 | 1.43 | 1.64 | $41.43 |
| Virginia Beach Public Library | Virginia Beach, VA | 458,028 | 1.99 | 3.20 | $46.01 |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland, CA | 449,189 | 3.02 | 4.75 | $105.99 |
Nearest in size within Arizona
- Pinal County Library District · Florence · 483,944 residents
- Chandler Public Library · Chandler · 286,342 residents
- Glendale Public Library · Glendale · 260,878 residents
- Pima County Public Library · Tucson · 1,086,634 residents