Orange County Public Libraries
Orange County Public Libraries is a county public library system based in Santa Ana (Orange County), California, serving a legal service area of 1,653,718 residents through 32 library buildings. Of all 8,476 systems profiled nationwide, it ranks third for program attendance.
Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks first for program attendance per resident and eighth for physical checkouts per resident and records the second-largest gain in physical checkouts since FY 2019, but ranks second-lowest for library floor space per resident and fourth-lowest for public computers per resident. Among the 170 profiled systems in California, it ranks second for physical checkouts, third for population served, sixth for total visits and seventh for operating spending.
Orange County against the 35 systems of its size class
Orange County since FY 2019
Visits were 35% below the FY 2019 count of 5.4 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 17% up over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Orange County programs
Programs for a general audience drew 50% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 49 people each.
Orange County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 3,467,240
- Physical checkouts
- 7,735,980
- …of children's materials
- 5,051,415
- Electronic checkouts
- 2,075,123
- …of e-books
- 826,660
- …of e-audio
- 931,481
- Registered users
- 383,222
- Program sessions
- 14,463
- Program attendance
- 706,728
- Print volumes
- 1,485,519
- Audio items (physical)
- 65,026
- Video items (physical)
- 143,529
- Public computers
- 589
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 77,984
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 344.0
- Operating spending
- $64.4 million
- …on books and other materials
- $5.2 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Orange County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $84.1 million, or $50.84 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 170 profiled systems in California.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Orange County, building by building
The 32 buildings cover 393,569 square feet in total, 0.24 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Tustin Branch Library at 31,445 square feet; the smallest is Laguna Woods Library at 350. The longest hours are at San Juan Capistrano Regional Library, 81.2 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aliso Viejo Branch Library | Branch | Aliso Viejo | 52 | 20,700 |
| Brea Branch Library | Branch | Brea | 42.4 | 10,880 |
| Chapman Branch Library | Branch | Garden Grove | 44 | 5,279 |
| Costa Mesa Branch Library | Branch | Costa Mesa | 60 | 23,615 |
| Cypress Branch Library | Branch | Cypress | 28 | 15,000 |
| Dana Point Branch Library | Branch | Dana Point | 60 | 10,535 |
| El Toro Branch Library | Branch | Lake Forest | 60 | 13,940 |
| Foothill Ranch Branch Library | Branch | Foothill Ranch | 44 | 12,914 |
| Fountain Valley Branch Library | Branch | Fountain Valley | 52 | 15,000 |
| Garden Grove Main Library | Branch | Garden Grove | 60 | 21,484 |
| Garden Grove Tibor Rubin Branch Library | Branch | Garden Grove | 44 | 5,279 |
| Heritage Park Branch Library | Branch | Irvine | 64 | 21,000 |
| Katie Wheeler Branch Library | Branch | Irvine | 64 | 11,250 |
| LA Habra Branch Library | Branch | LA Habra | 5.3 | 13,994 |
| LA Palma Branch Library | Branch | LA Palma | 44 | 6,225 |
| Ladera Ranch Branch Library | Branch | Ladera Ranch | 44 | 14,990 |
| Laguna Beach Branch Library | Branch | Laguna Beach | 52 | 10,290 |
| Laguna Hills Technology Library | Branch | Laguna Hills | 44 | 1,898 |
| Laguna Niguel Branch Library | Branch | Laguna Niguel | 60 | 14,733 |
| Laguna Woods Library | Branch | Laguna Woods | 32.5 | 350 |
| Library of the Canyons | Branch | Silverado | 44 | 4,200 |
| Los Alamitos-Rossmoor Branch Library | Branch | Seal Beach | 44 | 10,488 |
| Mary Wilson Branch Library | Branch | Seal Beach | 44 | 11,255 |
| Mesa Verde Branch Library | Branch | Costa Mesa | 60 | 6,458 |
| Rancho Santa Margarita Branch Library | Branch | Rancho Santa Margari | 52 | 16,378 |
| San Clemente Branch Library | Branch | San Clemente | 60 | 13,728 |
| San Juan Capistrano Regional Library | Branch | San Juan Capistrano | 81.2 | 12,898 |
| Stanton Branch Library | Branch | Stanton | 44 | 5,890 |
| Tustin Branch Library | Branch | Tustin | 60 | 31,445 |
| University Park Branch Library | Branch | Irvine | 64 | 11,411 |
| Villa Park Branch Library | Branch | Villa Park | 44 | 2,016 |
| Westminster Branch Library | Branch | Westminster | 52 | 18,046 |
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 Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wake County Public Libraries | Raleigh, NC | 1,194,900 | 2.55 | 7.46 | $29.66 |
| Fulton County Library System | Atlanta, GA | 1,094,693 | 2.13 | 2.10 | $27.24 |
| Montgomery County Public Libraries | Rockville, MD | 1,054,827 | 3.36 | 6.90 | $44.50 |
| Palm Beach County Library System | West Palm Beach, FL | 1,007,170 | 2.58 | 5.63 | $58.14 |
| Gwinnett County Public Library System | Lawrenceville, GA | 992,705 | 2.06 | 2.73 | $25.88 |
| Columbus Metropolitan Library | Columbus, OH | 971,930 | 5.63 | 9.76 | $85.18 |
Nearest in size within California
- Sacramento Public Library · Sacramento · 1,490,915 residents
- San Diego Public Library · San Diego · 1,385,379 residents
- Riverside County Library System · Jurupa Valley · 1,381,045 residents
- San Diego County Library · San Diego · 1,111,527 residents