Pioneer Library System
Pioneer Library System is a multi-jurisdictional public library system based in Norman (Cleveland County), Oklahoma, serving a legal service area of 422,056 residents through 13 library buildings. Among the 117 profiled systems in Oklahoma, it ranks third for population served, third for total visits, third for physical checkouts and third for operating spending.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 56% more paid staff per resident and 53% more operating spending per resident.
Pioneer against the 122 systems of its size class
Pioneer, building by building
The 12 buildings cover 138,343 square feet in total, 0.33 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Moore Public Library at 33,000 square feet; the smallest is Library Lab at 1,940. The longest hours are at Norman Public Library (West), 75 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blanchard Public Library | Branch | Blanchard | 61 | 9,800 |
| Library Lab | Branch | Norman | 57 | 1,940 |
| McLoud Public Library | Branch | McLoud | 51 | 3,200 |
| Moore Public Library | Branch | Moore | 72 | 33,000 |
| Newcastle Public Library | Branch | Newcastle | 61 | 5,000 |
| Noble Public Library | Branch | Noble | 61 | 11,000 |
| Norman Public Library (East) | Branch | Norman | 72 | 12,500 |
| Norman Public Library (West) | Branch | Norman | 75 | 6,703 |
| Purcell Public Library | Branch | Purcell | 61 | 10,000 |
| Shawnee Public Library | Branch | Shawnee | 72 | 22,000 |
| Southwest Oklahoma City Public Library | Branch | Oklahoma City | 72 | 19,000 |
| Tecumseh Public Library | Branch | Tecumseh | 51 | 4,200 |
Pioneer in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 999,051
- Physical checkouts
- 1,592,625
- …of children's materials
- 934,392
- Electronic checkouts
- 1,234,064
- …of e-books
- 557,803
- …of e-audio
- 548,214
- Registered users
- 287,758
- Program sessions
- 6,649
- Program attendance
- 108,308
- Print volumes
- 563,470
- Audio items (physical)
- 13,181
- Video items (physical)
- 100,768
- Public computers
- 354
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 39,832
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 206.5
- Operating spending
- $23.2 million
- …on books and other materials
- $3.8 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Pioneer gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $26.3 million, or $62.31 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 117 profiled systems in Oklahoma. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Pioneer since FY 2019
Visits were 38% below the FY 2019 count of 1.6 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 37% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Pioneer programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 53% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 16 people each.
Multi-jurisdictional 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 Santa Clara County Library in California.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonoma County Library | Rohnert Park, CA | 478,152 | 2.98 | 5.72 | $87.04 |
| Santa Clara County Library | Campbell, CA | 456,355 | 5.40 | 17.73 | $147.69 |
| Live Oak Public Libraries | Savannah, GA | 450,821 | 1.41 | 1.72 | $25.90 |
| Solano County Library | Fairfield, CA | 420,393 | 1.83 | 3.56 | $60.66 |
| PAL Public Library Cooperative | Bronson, FL | 416,905 | 2.35 | 4.82 | $53.39 |
| Huntsville-Madison County Public Library | Huntsville, AL | 403,565 | 3.25 | 6.29 | $20.26 |
Nearest in size within Oklahoma
- Tulsa City-County Library System · Tulsa · 682,868 residents
- Eastern Oklahoma Library System · Muskogee · 236,086 residents
- Metropolitan Library System · Oklahoma City · 808,866 residents
- Southeast Oklahoma Library System · McAlester · 164,633 residents