Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library
Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library is a nonprofit public library system based in Norristown (Montgomery County), Pennsylvania, serving a legal service area of 336,716 residents through five library buildings and three bookmobiles. Among the 122 profiled systems serving 250,000 to 499,999 residents, it ranks second-lowest for visits per resident, third-lowest for public computers per resident and fifth-lowest for local government's share of operating revenue.
Among the 435 profiled systems in Pennsylvania, it ranks third for print volumes, fourth for population served and ninth for operating spending. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 45% of the physical checkouts per resident and only 46% of the operating spending per resident.
Montgomery County-Norristown against the 122 systems of its size class
Montgomery County-Norristown since FY 2019
Visits were 49% below the FY 2019 count of 159,765 (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 2% up over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Montgomery County-Norristown programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 73% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 15 people each.
Montgomery County-Norristown in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 81,482
- Physical checkouts
- 531,631
- …of children's materials
- 299,903
- Electronic checkouts
- 225,400
- …of e-books
- 96,443
- …of e-audio
- 86,835
- Registered users
- 95,647
- Program sessions
- 3,188
- Program attendance
- 46,858
- Print volumes
- 410,942
- Audio items (physical)
- 12,280
- Video items (physical)
- 14,149
- Public computers
- 46
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 15,268
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 70.0
- Operating spending
- $5.6 million
- …on books and other materials
- $684,298
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Montgomery County-Norristown gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $5.8 million, or $17.23 per resident. The local-government share sits 7 percentage points below the combined share for the 435 profiled systems in Pennsylvania. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Montgomery County-Norristown, building by building
The five buildings cover 96,661 square feet in total, 0.29 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library at 76,423 square feet; the smallest is Conshohocken Free Library at 3,280. The longest hours are at Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library, 60.2 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library | Central library | Norristown | 60.2 | 76,423 |
| Conshohocken Free Library | Branch | Conshohocken | 39 | 3,280 |
| Perkiomen Valley Library, Inc. | Branch | Schwenksville | 46 | 7,323 |
| Royersford Free Public Library | Branch | Royersford | 48 | 5,410 |
| Upper Perkiomen Valley Library | Branch | Red Hill | 51 | 4,225 |
| Bookmobile #7 | Bookmobile | Norristown | 30 | |
| Words-on-Wheels | Bookmobile | Norristown | 21 |
Closest in size nationwide
All six of these systems record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Howard County Library System in Maryland.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland County Public Library | Fayetteville, NC | 337,970 | 1.84 | 2.99 | $33.32 |
| Henrico County Public Library | Henrico, VA | 336,226 | 4.22 | 7.36 | $67.13 |
| Genesee District Library | Flint, MI | 334,645 | 2.06 | 1.87 | $27.33 |
| Howard County Library System | Ellicott City, MD | 334,529 | 4.70 | 12.51 | $89.12 |
| Durham County Library | Durham, NC | 334,350 | 1.50 | 6.70 | $41.93 |
| West Florida Public Libraries | Pensacola, FL | 334,119 | 1.17 | 2.03 | $23.55 |
Nearest in size within Pennsylvania
- Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh · Pittsburgh · 392,273 residents
- York County Library System, Pennsylvania · York · 282,763 residents
- Dauphin County Library System · Harrisburg · 252,153 residents
- Erie County Public Library · Erie · 237,610 residents