librarysystems

Pima County Public Library

Tucson, ArizonaPima CountyCity-county libraryLarge cityFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

Pima County Public Library is a city-county public library system based in Tucson (Pima County), Arizona, serving a legal service area of 1,086,634 residents through 27 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 59 profiled systems in Arizona, it leads on total visits, number of library buildings and public computers and ranks second for operating spending.

Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks fifth-lowest for physical checkouts per resident and records the second-steepest decline in visits since FY 2019 and the fourth-steepest decline in physical checkouts since FY 2019. Against the median system of its size class, it records 20% more public computers per resident and 16% fewer print volumes per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

Pima County against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.34Visitsper resident64th percentile1.57Checkoutsper resident13th percentile$41.62Spendingper resident50th percentile0.80Print volumesper resident33rd percentile178Program visitsper 1,000 people46th percentile6.8Computersper 10,000 people64th percentile37.3Open hoursper outlet a week15th percentile3.2Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people50th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.3464th pct.Checkouts per resident1.5713th pct.Spending per resident$41.6250th pct.Print volumes per resident0.8033rd pct.Program visits per 1,000 people17846th pct.Computers per 10,000 people6.864th pct.Open hours per outlet a week37.315th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people3.250th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Pima County since FY 2019

Visits were 49% below the FY 2019 count of 5 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 52% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 100406080100120FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 100406080100120FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Pima County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 49% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 16 people each.

Children 0–1195,508Young adults 12–187,960Adults 19+44,872General interest44,801
Children 0–1195,508Young adults 12–187,960Adults 19+44,872General interest44,801

Pima County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
2,547,413
Physical checkouts
1,707,450
…of children's materials
696,395
Registered users
296,271
Program sessions
11,916
Program attendance
193,141
Print volumes
870,168
Public computers
740
Public service hours, all outlets
54,363
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
350.4
Operating spending
$45.2 million
…on books and other materials
$5.2 million
Overdue fines on print items
charged

Where Pima County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $61.9 million, or $56.93 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 53 profiled systems in Arizona.

This system94%All profiled systems in Arizona94%
This system94%All profiled systems in Arizona94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Pima County, building by building

The 26 buildings cover 400,344 square feet in total, 0.37 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Joel D. Valdez Main Library at 100,000 square feet; the smallest is El Rio Branch Library at 1,000. The longest hours, 50 a week, are shared by two buildings.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Joel D. Valdez Main LibraryCentral libraryTucson42100,000
Caviglia-Arivaca Branch LibraryBranchArivaca383,844
Dewhirst-Catalina Branch LibraryBranchCatalina392,500
Dusenberry-River Branch LibraryBranchTucson3910,000
Eckstrom-Columbus Branch LibraryBranchTucson4614,988
El Pueblo Branch LibraryBranchTucson144,544
El Rio Branch LibraryBranchTucson311,000
Flowing Wells Branch LibraryBranchTucson3813,000
Himmel Park Branch LibraryBranchTucson416,986
Joyner-Green Valley Branch LibraryBranchGreen Valley4113,685
Kirk-Bear Canyon Branch LibraryBranchTucson4016,215
Miller-Golf Links Branch LibraryBranchTucson4815,000
Mission Branch LibraryBranchTucson3910,538
Murphy-Wilmot Branch LibraryBranchTucson4622,066
Nanini Branch LibraryBranchTucson4816,000
Oro Valley Branch LibraryBranchOro Valley5029,828
Quincie Douglas Branch LibraryBranchTucson4012,424
Sahuarita Branch LibraryBranchSahuarita4817,700
Salazar-Ajo Branch LibraryBranchAjo355,242
Sam Lena-South Tucson Branch LibraryBranchTucson399,000
Santa Rosa Branch LibraryBranchTucson357,661
Southwest Branch LibraryBranchTucson352,368
Valencia Branch LibraryBranchTucson4817,722
W. Anne Gibson-Esmond Station LibraryBranchTucson419,000
Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Branch LibraryBranchTucson4121,164
Woods Memorial Branch LibraryBranchTucson5017,869
Bookmobile-ReadrunnersBookmobileTucson5.1

City-county libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, four record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Nashville Public Library in Tennessee.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Memphis Public Library and Information CenterMemphis, TN791,6861.150.80$29.16
Stockton-San Joaquin County Public LibraryStockton, CA724,9160.901.32$21.24
Nashville Public LibraryNashville, TN712,3343.874.64$75.07
Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library SystemAlbuquerque, NM676,4442.422.98$28.03
Lake County Library SystemTavares, FL432,7962.503.25$25.02
New Orleans Public LibraryNew Orleans, LA362,7013.022.89$65.01

Nearest in size within Arizona

All profiled systems in Arizona