Morris County Library
Morris County Library is a county public library based in Whippany (Morris County), New Jersey, serving a legal service area of 509,285 residents from a single building. Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks first for local government's share of operating revenue and second for weekly open hours per outlet, but ranks last for visits per resident and last for program attendance per resident.
Among the 262 profiled systems in New Jersey, it ranks second for population served. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 13% of the physical checkouts per resident and only 23% of the paid staff per resident.
Morris County against the 61 systems of its size class
Morris County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 120,576
- Physical checkouts
- 258,848
- …of children's materials
- 69,477
- Electronic checkouts
- 29,172
- …of e-books
- 20,554
- …of e-audio
- 8,016
- Registered users
- 3,827
- Program sessions
- 329
- Program attendance
- 10,353
- Print volumes
- 269,725
- Audio items (physical)
- 26,669
- Video items (physical)
- 20,548
- Public computers
- 83
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 3,328
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 48.5
- Operating spending
- $7.7 million
- …on books and other materials
- $405,867
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Morris County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $7.6 million, or $15.01 per resident. The local-government share sits 4 percentage points above the combined share for the 262 profiled systems in New Jersey. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
County libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, five record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Johnson County Library in Kansas.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville County Library System | Greenville, SC | 525,534 | 2.47 | 5.56 | $41.58 |
| Washoe County Library System | Reno, NV | 508,759 | 1.48 | 2.64 | $30.63 |
| Knox County Public Library System | Knoxville, TN | 500,669 | 2.07 | 4.34 | $30.08 |
| Pinal County Library District | Florence, AZ | 483,944 | 0.11 | 0.44 | $5.69 |
| Onondaga County Public Library | Syracuse, NY | 476,516 | 1.04 | 0.68 | $27.95 |
| Johnson County Library | Overland Park, KS | 474,776 | 3.94 | 10.93 | $114.39 |
Who comes to Morris County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 72% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 31 people each.
Nearest in size within New Jersey
- Monmouth County Library · Manalapan · 425,110 residents
- Ocean County Library · Toms River · 636,202 residents
- Burlington County Library · Westampton · 363,983 residents
- Camden County Library · Voorhees · 324,221 residents
The Morris County building
The single building covers 70,000 square feet, 0.14 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. It is open 64 hours a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris County Free Library | Central library | Whippany | 64 | 70,000 |