Richland County Public Library
Richland County Public Library is a county public library system based in Columbia (Richland County), South Carolina, serving a legal service area of 416,147 residents through 13 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina, it ranks second for population served, second for physical checkouts, second for operating spending and second for public computers.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.5 times the paid staff per resident and 2.3 times the operating spending per resident.
Richland County against the 122 systems of its size class
Richland County, building by building
The 13 buildings cover 340,316 square feet in total, 0.82 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Richland Library Main at 193,112 square feet; the smallest is Richland Library Wheatley at 4,000. The longest hours are at Richland Library Main, 63 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richland Library Main | Central library | Columbia | 63 | 193,112 |
| Richland Library Ballentine | Branch | Irmo | 59.1 | 13,750 |
| Richland Library Blythewood | Branch | Blythewood | 59.1 | 7,000 |
| Richland Library Cooper | Branch | Columbia | 59.1 | 11,500 |
| Richland Library Eastover | Branch | Eastover | 50 | 5,704 |
| Richland Library Edgewood | Branch | Columbia | 59.1 | 7,350 |
| Richland Library Lower Richland | Branch | Hopkins | 55.3 | 5,200 |
| Richland Library North Main | Branch | Columbia | 59.1 | 12,000 |
| Richland Library Northeast | Branch | Columbia | 59.1 | 15,500 |
| Richland Library Sandhills | Branch | Columbia | 62.8 | 30,000 |
| Richland Library Southeast | Branch | Columbia | 62.8 | 20,000 |
| Richland Library St. Andrews | Branch | Columbia | 62.8 | 15,200 |
| Richland Library Wheatley | Branch | Columbia | 55.3 | 4,000 |
| Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Columbia | 3.5 |
Richland County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,177,015
- Physical checkouts
- 2,256,201
- …of children's materials
- 1,237,406
- Electronic checkouts
- 1,286,346
- …of e-books
- 563,302
- …of e-audio
- 550,610
- Registered users
- 200,943
- Program sessions
- 4,512
- Program attendance
- 83,411
- Print volumes
- 575,502
- Audio items (physical)
- 28,158
- Video items (physical)
- 58,426
- Public computers
- 348
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 39,971
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 323.5
- Operating spending
- $34.1 million
- …on books and other materials
- $3.7 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Richland County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $35 million, or $84.18 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Richland County since FY 2019
Visits were 23% below the FY 2019 count of 1.5 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 25% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Richland County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 71% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 18 people each.
County libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, two record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Loudoun County Public Library in Virginia.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo-Lucas County Public Library | Toledo, OH | 428,505 | 4.73 | 7.25 | $104.07 |
| Jefferson Parish Library | Metairie, LA | 427,253 | 2.74 | 1.81 | $59.02 |
| Loudoun County Public Library | Leesburg, VA | 425,204 | 4.03 | 8.66 | $57.12 |
| Monmouth County Library | Manalapan, NJ | 425,110 | 1.89 | 3.46 | $38.90 |
| Marion County Public Library System | Ocala, FL | 413,951 | 1.39 | 1.84 | $21.62 |
| Collier County Public Library | Naples, FL | 408,363 | 2.08 | 2.98 | $22.35 |
Nearest in size within South Carolina
- Charleston County Public Library System · Charleston · 408,235 residents
- Horry County Memorial Library · Conway · 351,029 residents
- Greenville County Library System · Greenville · 525,534 residents
- Spartanburg County Public Library System · Spartanburg · 327,997 residents