librarysystems

Mid-Continent Public Library

Independence, MissouriJackson CountyLibrary districtLarge suburbFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

Mid-Continent Public Library is a library district based in Independence (Jackson County), Missouri, serving a legal service area of 840,292 residents through 34 library buildings. Among profiled systems in Missouri, it leads on operating spending, number of library buildings and electronic checkouts and ranks second for population served.

Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks fourth for weekly open hours per outlet and eighth for print volumes per resident and records the fifth-smallest decline in visits since FY 2019. Against the median system of its size class, it records 72% more operating spending per resident and 56% more paid staff per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 500,000 to 999,999

Mid-Continent against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.96Visitsper resident75th percentile5.99Checkoutsper resident76th percentile$82.29Spendingper resident83rd percentile2.37Print volumesper resident88th percentile285Program visitsper 1,000 people70th percentile6.4Computersper 10,000 people52nd percentile63.5Open hoursper outlet a week94th percentile6.4Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people83rd percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.9675th pct.Checkouts per resident5.9976th pct.Spending per resident$82.2983rd pct.Print volumes per resident2.3788th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people28570th pct.Computers per 10,000 people6.452nd pct.Open hours per outlet a week63.594th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people6.483rd pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Mid-Continent in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
2,491,079
Physical checkouts
5,029,606
…of children's materials
2,608,218
Electronic checkouts
5,187,832
…of e-books
2,573,976
…of e-audio
2,305,315
Registered users
436,344
Program sessions
9,943
Program attendance
239,285
Print volumes
1,992,474
Audio items (physical)
141,020
Video items (physical)
246,043
Public computers
535
Public service hours, all outlets
112,295
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
539.9
Operating spending
$69.1 million
…on books and other materials
$9.9 million
Overdue fines on print items
charged

Where Mid-Continent gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $74.2 million, or $88.33 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 148 profiled systems in Missouri.

This system91%All profiled systems in Missouri88%
This system91%All profiled systems in Missouri88%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

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 Kent District Library in Michigan.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Las Vegas-Clark County Library DistrictLas Vegas, NV1,721,8512.243.82$51.67
King County Library SystemIssaquah, WA1,607,6503.357.16$90.15
Orange County Library DistrictOrlando, FL1,457,3301.532.77$35.79
Kent District LibraryComstock Park, MI439,1945.1811.80$70.65
Rangeview Library DistrictThornton, CO406,7181.841.59$51.73
Allen County Public LibraryFort Wayne, IN385,4104.448.37$95.43

Mid-Continent since FY 2019

Visits were 10% below the FY 2019 count of 2.8 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 22% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 100708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 100708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Mid-Continent programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 79% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 24 people each.

Children 0–11190,036Young adults 12–186,134Adults 19+33,480General interest9,635
Children 0–11190,036Young adults 12–186,134Adults 19+33,480General interest9,635

Mid-Continent, building by building

The 34 buildings cover 642,444 square feet in total, 0.76 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Colbern Road Branch at 73,800 square feet; the smallest is Edgerton Branch at 3,013. The longest hours, 69 a week, are shared by 20 buildings.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Antioch BranchBranchGladstone6922,783
Blue Ridge BranchBranchKansas City6921,280
Blue Springs North BranchBranchBlue Springs6915,204
Blue Springs South BranchBranchBlue Springs6917,896
Buckner BranchBranchBuckner615,518
Camden Point BranchBranchCamden Point553,080
Claycomo BranchBranchClaycomo619,733
Colbern Road BranchBranchLee's Summit6973,800
Dearborn BranchBranchDearborn553,080
East IndependenceBranchIndependence6112,673
East Lee's Summit BranchBranchLee's Summit6918,531
Edgerton BranchBranchEdgerton553,013
Excelsior Springs BranchBranchExcelsior Springs6910,940
Farview Neighborhood LibraryBranchIndependence404,133
Grain Valley BranchBranchGrain Valley6112,673
Grandview BranchBranchGrandview6917,527
Green Hills Library CenterBranchKansas City6936,274
Joe Herndon BranchBranchRaytown6922,368
Kearney BranchBranchKearney6915,000
Lee`s Summit BranchBranchLee's Summit6922,630
Lone Jack BranchBranchLone Jack617,500
Midwest Genealogy CenterBranchIndependence6762,862
North Independence BranchBranchIndependence6945,952
North Oak BranchBranchKansas City6917,009
Oak Grove BranchBranchOak Grove617,000
Parkville BranchBranchParkville6918,079
Platte City BranchBranchPlatte City6115,638
Red Bridge BranchBranchKansas City6914,200
Riverside BranchBranchRiverside6112,500
Smithville BranchBranchSmithville6914,960
South Independence BranchBranchIndependence6917,887
Weston BranchBranchWeston577,244
Withers BranchBranchLiberty6918,477
Woodneath Library CenterBranchKansas City6935,000
Library By MailBooks by mailIndependence45

Nearest in size within Missouri

All profiled systems in Missouri