librarysystems

Queens Borough Public Library

Jamaica, New YorkQueens CountyCounty libraryLarge cityFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Queens Borough Public Library is a county public library system based in Jamaica (Queens County), New York, serving a legal service area of 2,405,464 residents through 62 library buildings and two bookmobiles. Of all systems profiled nationwide, it ranks second for total visits, second for program attendance, fifth for number of library buildings and sixth for operating spending.

Among profiled systems in New York, it ranks second for physical checkouts, third for public computers and third for electronic checkouts. Among profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it ranks fourth for operating spending per resident, fourth for paid staff per resident, sixth for program attendance per resident and eighth for visits per resident, but ranks sixth-lowest for weekly open hours per outlet and eighth-lowest for local government's share of operating revenue.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

Queens Borough against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.71Visitsper resident79th percentile2.64Checkoutsper resident39th percentile$62.46Spendingper resident90th percentile1.45Print volumesper resident73rd percentile321Program visitsper 1,000 people84th percentile4.6Computersper 10,000 people30th percentile37.7Open hoursper outlet a week18th percentile5.4Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people90th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.7179th pct.Checkouts per resident2.6439th pct.Spending per resident$62.4690th pct.Print volumes per resident1.4573rd pct.Program visits per 1,000 people32184th pct.Computers per 10,000 people4.630th pct.Open hours per outlet a week37.718th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people5.490th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Queens Borough since FY 2019

Visits were 39% below the FY 2019 count of 10.7 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 35% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Queens Borough programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 42% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 18 people each.

Children 0–11327,475Young adults 12–1845,532Adults 19+229,768General interest169,880
Children 0–11327,475Young adults 12–1845,532Adults 19+229,768General interest169,880

Queens Borough in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
6,509,754
Physical checkouts
6,344,365
…of children's materials
3,107,922
Electronic checkouts
2,252,148
…of e-books
1,007,894
…of e-audio
696,909
Registered users
1,597,936
Program sessions
43,488
Program attendance
772,655
Print volumes
3,482,625
Audio items (physical)
76,839
Video items (physical)
261,962
Public computers
1,097
Public service hours, all outlets
125,476
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
1,293.3
Operating spending
$15 million
…on books and other materials
$6.6 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Queens Borough gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $167 million, or $69.51 per resident. The local-government share sits 8 percentage points above the combined share for the 754 profiled systems in New York. Federal money made up 1.5% of the total.

This system89%All profiled systems in New York81%
This system89%All profiled systems in New York81%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Queens Borough, building by building

The 61 buildings cover 928,848 square feet in total, 0.39 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Queens Public Library Central at 227,146 square feet; the smallest is Broad Channel at 1,750. The longest hours are at Queens Public Library Central, 54.7 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Queens Public Library CentralCentral libraryJamaica54.7227,146
ArverneBranchArverne41.25,000
ArverneBranchArverne41.85,000
AstoriaBranchLong Island City41.88,600
AuburndaleBranchFlushing427,500
Baisley ParkBranchJamaica43.57,500
BaysideBranchBayside41.910,300
BelleroseBranchBellerose427,500
BriarwoodBranchBriarwood427,500
Broad ChannelBranchBroad Channel41.71,750
Cambria HeightsBranchCambria Heights4218,000
CoronaBranchCorona41.98,000
Douglaston/Little NeckBranchLittle Neck4210,800
East ElmhurstBranchEast Elmhurst4213,761
East FlushingBranchFlushing427,500
ElmhurstBranchElmhurst4233,623
Far RockawayBranchFar Rockaway40.918,923
FlushingBranchFlushing53.576,000
Forest HillsBranchForest Hills4221,950
Fresh MeadowsBranchFresh Meadows428,700
Glen OaksBranchGlen Oaks41.818,000
GlendaleBranchGlendale41.910,800
HillcrestBranchFlushing44.47,600
HollisBranchHollis44.47,600
Howard BeachBranchHoward Beach41.67,500
Hunters PointBranchLong Island City41.721,800
Jackson HeightsBranchJackson Heights4218,038
Kew Gardens HillsBranchFlushing39.811,666
Langston HughesBranchCorona41.623,000
LaureltonBranchLaurelton44.59,000
LeffertsBranchRichmond Hill427,500
Lefrak CityBranchCorona–18,000
Long Island CityBranchLong Island City43.518,000
MaspethBranchMaspeth43.67,500
McGoldrickBranchFlushing43.67,500
Middle VillageBranchMiddle Village43.66,000
Mitchell-LindenBranchFlushing43.68,800
North Forest ParkBranchForest Hills43.67,500
North HillsBranchLittle Neck43.66,000
Ozone ParkBranchOzone Park43.37,500
PeninsulaBranchRockaway Beach43.512,750
PomonokBranchFlushing41.77,500
PoppenhusenBranchCollege Point428,000
Queens VillageBranchQueens Village4212,300
Queensboro HillBranchFlushing45.87,750
Rego ParkBranchRego Park427,500
Richmond HillBranchRichmond Hill42.113,000
RidgewoodBranchRidgewood41.414,000
Rochdale VillageBranchJamaica429,181
RosedaleBranchRosedale41.95,400
SeasideBranchRockaway Park44.27,500
South HollisBranchSouth Hollis427,500
South JamaicaBranchJamaica41.913,500
South Ozone ParkBranchSouth Ozone Park41.57,500
St. AlbansBranchSt. Albans41.97,510
SteinwayBranchLong Island City41.811,200
SunnysideBranchLong Island City41.67,500
WhitestoneBranchWhitestone427,500
Windsor ParkBranchBayside41.87,500
WoodhavenBranchWoodhaven41.69,100
WoodsideBranchWoodside41.810,800
Bookmobile 1BookmobileQueens Village10.4
Bookmobile 2BookmobileQueens Village11.4

A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.

County libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, one records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Orange County Public Libraries in California.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
LA County LibraryDowney, CA3,248,2851.701.70$60.09
Miami-Dade Public Library SystemMiami, FL2,406,2991.521.24$38.92
Harris County Public LibraryHouston, TX2,281,1731.113.58$16.75
Broward County Libraries DivisionFort Lauderdale, FL1,776,2713.031.69$44.10
Orange County Public LibrariesSanta Ana, CA1,653,7182.104.68$38.92
Hillsborough County Public Library CooperativeTampa, FL1,559,6781.622.32$37.59

Nearest in size within New York

All profiled systems in New York