Milwaukee Public Library
Milwaukee Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving a legal service area of 577,895 residents through 13 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 358 profiled systems in Wisconsin, it leads on population served, operating spending, number of library buildings and public computers.
Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks fifth for library floor space per resident and sixth for print volumes per resident, but ranks third-lowest for local government's share of operating revenue and records the fifth-steepest decline in physical checkouts since FY 2019. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 48% of the physical checkouts per resident and 49% more public computers per resident.
Milwaukee against the 61 systems of its size class
Milwaukee, building by building
The 13 buildings cover 640,737 square feet in total, 1.11 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Milwaukee Public Library at 457,919 square feet; the smallest is Martin Luther King Branch at 1,000. The longest hours are at Milwaukee Public Library, 56 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Public Library | Central library | Milwaukee | 56 | 457,919 |
| Atkinson Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 13,500 |
| Bay View Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 16,500 |
| Capitol Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 12,777 |
| Center Street Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 16,150 |
| East Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 16,647 |
| Good Hope Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 49.7 | 18,400 |
| Martin Luther King Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 1,000 |
| Mitchell Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 22,890 |
| Tippecanoe Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 49.7 | 16,905 |
| Villard Square Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 12,770 |
| Washington Park Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 20,540 |
| Zablocki Branch | Branch | Milwaukee | 48 | 14,739 |
| Milwaukee Public Library Outreach Delivery Services | Bookmobile | Milwaukee | 13.7 |
Milwaukee in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,157,773
- Physical checkouts
- 1,075,242
- …of children's materials
- 389,715
- Electronic checkouts
- 527,048
- …of e-books
- 223,928
- …of e-audio
- 220,095
- Registered users
- 188,612
- Program sessions
- 5,321
- Program attendance
- 86,957
- Print volumes
- 1,959,090
- Audio items (physical)
- 89,197
- Video items (physical)
- 98,166
- Public computers
- 542
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 33,752
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 302.6
- Operating spending
- $34.2 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Milwaukee gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $34.9 million, or $60.40 per resident. The local-government share sits 41 percentage points below the combined share for the 358 profiled systems in Wisconsin. Federal money made up 42.2% of the total.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Milwaukee since FY 2019
Visits were 30% below the FY 2019 count of 1.7 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 44% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Milwaukee programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 43% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 16 people each.
Municipal libraries 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 District of Columbia Public Library in the District of Columbia.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia Public Library | Washington, DC | 702,250 | 4.81 | 5.46 | $121.10 |
| El Paso Public Library | El Paso, TX | 678,958 | 1.05 | 1.50 | $15.67 |
| Detroit Public Library | Detroit, MI | 639,111 | 0.54 | 0.27 | $48.30 |
| 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 |
| Mesa Public Library | Mesa, AZ | 524,892 | 1.24 | 3.04 | $16.78 |
Nearest in size within Wisconsin
- Madison Public Library · Madison · 304,881 residents
- Brown County Library · Green Bay · 273,297 residents
- Kenosha Public Library · Kenosha · 138,088 residents
- Racine Public Library · Racine · 137,874 residents