Prince William Public Libraries
Prince William Public Libraries is a multi-jurisdictional public library system based in Prince William, Virginia, serving a legal service area of 525,441 residents through 12 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 93 profiled systems in Virginia, it ranks second for population served, third for operating spending, third for program attendance and seventh for physical checkouts, but ranks last for print volumes per resident and second-lowest for library floor space per resident.
Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it records the tenth-steepest decline in visits since FY 2019 and the tenth-steepest decline in physical checkouts since FY 2019. Against the median system of its size class, it records 39% fewer public computers per resident and 60% more program attendance per resident.
Prince William against the 61 systems of its size class
Prince William, building by building
The 12 buildings cover 152,344 square feet in total, 0.29 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Bull Run Library at 25,000 square feet; the smallest is Nokesville Library at 1,653. The longest hours, 55 a week, are shared by two buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bull Run Library | Branch | Manassas | 55 | 25,000 |
| Central Library | Branch | Manassas | 51 | 22,480 |
| Chinn Park Library | Branch | Prince William | 55 | 25,000 |
| Dale City Library | Branch | Dale City | 39 | 2,475 |
| Dumfries Library | Branch | Dumfries | 39 | 3,840 |
| Haymarket Gainesville Library | Branch | Haymarket | 51 | 21,734 |
| Independent Hill Library | Branch | Manassas | 39 | 2,059 |
| Lake Ridge Library | Branch | Woodbridge | 39 | 3,300 |
| Manassas City Library | Branch | Manassas | 39 | 6,000 |
| Montclair Library | Branch | Dumfries | 51 | 20,803 |
| Nokesville Library | Branch | Nokesville | 39 | 1,653 |
| Potomac Library | Branch | Woodbridge | 39 | 18,000 |
| Community Outreach Services | Bookmobile | Prince Wiliam | 10 |
Prince William in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 869,844
- Physical checkouts
- 1,746,112
- …of children's materials
- 102,838
- Electronic checkouts
- 703,720
- …of e-books
- 284,706
- …of e-audio
- 312,422
- Registered users
- 62,720
- Program sessions
- 4,510
- Program attendance
- 153,839
- Print volumes
- 407,356
- Audio items (physical)
- 16,847
- Video items (physical)
- 20,572
- Public computers
- 202
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 28,032
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 205.2
- Operating spending
- $23.6 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2.1 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Prince William gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $24 million, or $45.60 per resident. The local-government share sits 4 percentage points above the combined share for the 93 profiled systems in Virginia. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Prince William since FY 2019
Visits were 42% below the FY 2019 count of 1.5 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 42% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Prince William programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 60% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 34 people each.
Multi-jurisdictional 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 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 |
| Pioneer Library System | Norman, OK | 422,056 | 2.37 | 3.77 | $54.96 |
| 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 |
Nearest in size within Virginia
- Virginia Beach Public Library · Virginia Beach · 458,028 residents
- Loudoun County Public Library · Leesburg · 425,204 residents
- Chesterfield County Public Library · Chesterfield · 369,943 residents
- Central Rappahannock Regional Library · Fredericksburg · 347,033 residents