librarysystems

Riverside County Library System

Jurupa Valley, CaliforniaRiverside CountyCounty libraryLarge suburbFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

Riverside County Library System is a county public library system based in Jurupa Valley (Riverside County), California, serving a legal service area of 1,381,045 residents through 35 library buildings and four bookmobiles. Among the 35 profiled systems serving 1 million or more residents, it records the third-largest gain in physical checkouts since FY 2019, but ranks second-lowest for paid staff per resident and third-lowest for local government's share of operating revenue.

Among the 170 profiled systems in California, it ranks sixth for population served. Against the median system of its size class, it records 36% fewer visits per resident and 31% fewer physical checkouts per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 1 million or more

Riverside County against the 35 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class1.33Visitsper resident19th percentile1.95Checkoutsper resident21st percentile$29.08Spendingper resident19th percentile0.67Print volumesper resident21st percentile166Program visitsper 1,000 people40th percentile5.7Computersper 10,000 people50th percentile1.3Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people4th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident1.3319th pct.Checkouts per resident1.9521st pct.Spending per resident$29.0819th pct.Print volumes per resident0.6721st pct.Program visits per 1,000 people16640th pct.Computers per 10,000 people5.750th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people1.34th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Riverside County since FY 2019

Visits were 43% below the FY 2019 count of 3.2 million (size-class median: −34%). Physical checkouts moved 10% up over the same span.

FY 2019 = 100507090110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 100507090110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Riverside County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 57% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 23 people each.

Children 0–11130,695Young adults 12–1810,576Adults 19+26,728General interest61,307
Children 0–11130,695Young adults 12–1810,576Adults 19+26,728General interest61,307

Riverside County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
1,836,386
Physical checkouts
2,693,916
…of children's materials
1,706,764
Electronic checkouts
343,932
…of e-books
162,424
…of e-audio
138,999
Registered users
387,781
Program sessions
10,019
Program attendance
229,306
Print volumes
920,760
Audio items (physical)
34,297
Video items (physical)
121,064
Public computers
781
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
173.8
Operating spending
$40.2 million
…on books and other materials
$1.7 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Riverside County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $43.6 million, or $31.58 per resident. The local-government share sits 27 percentage points below the combined share for the 170 profiled systems in California. No federal operating revenue was reported.

This system67%32%All profiled systems in California94%
This system67%32%All profiled systems in California94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Riverside County, building by building

The 35 buildings cover 416,668 square feet in total, 0.30 square feet per resident against a median of 0.39 for the size class. The largest building is Temecula Public Library at 34,000 square feet; the smallest is Lake Tamarisk Library at 2,055. The longest hours are at Glen Avon Branch Library, 67.5 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Altha Merrifield-Lake Elsinore Branch LibraryBranchLake Elsinore41.57,500
Anza Valley Community LibraryBranchAnza14.85,400
Cabazon LibraryBranchCabazon39.56,490
Calimesa LibraryBranchCalimesa37.52,400
Canyon Lake Branch LibraryBranchCanyon Lake28.23,394
Cathedral City Branch LibraryBranchCathedral City4220,037
Coachella Branch LibraryBranchCoachella388,820
Desert Hot Springs Branch LibraryBranchDesert Hot Springs37.715,000
Eastvale Community LibraryBranchEastvale30.26,270
El Cerrito Public LibraryBranchCorona19.55,000
French Valley LibraryBranchWinchester38.625,000
Glen Avon Branch LibraryBranchRiverside67.519,996
Grace Mellman LibraryBranchTemecula38.415,350
Highgrove Branch LibraryBranchRiverside34.37,871
Home Gardens LibraryBranchCorona48.512,463
Idyllwild Branch LibraryBranchIdyllwild38.16,000
LA Quinta Branch LibraryBranchLA Quinta52.919,000
Lake Tamarisk LibraryBranchDesert Center19.82,055
Max T. McCandless Branch Library IndioBranchIndio38.317,760
Mead Valley Public LibraryBranchPerris38.522,827
Mecca-North Shore Branch LibraryBranchMecca38.54,992
Menifee LibraryBranchMenifee38.620,000
Norco Branch LibraryBranchNorco42.58,192
Nuview Branch LibraryBranchNuevo29.13,782
Palm Desert Branch LibraryBranchPalm Desert54.720,000
Perris Branch LibraryBranchPerris49.620,172
Robidoux Branch LibraryBranchRiverside51.324,221
San Jacinto Branch LibraryBranchSan Jacinto46.94,000
Sun City Branch LibraryBranchSun City46.810,500
Temecula Public LibraryBranchTemecula56.734,000
Thousand Palms LibraryBranchThousand Palms37.45,288
Valle Vista LibraryBranchHemet32.14,960
Vick Knight Community LibraryBranchLake Elsinore30.710,000
Wildomar LibraryBranchWildomar44.15,578
Woodcrest Community LibraryBranchRiverside41.812,350
Coachella Valley BookmobileBookmobileIndio5.6
Library Connect North VanBookmobileRiverside–
Library Connect South VanBookmobileIndio–
West County BookmobileBookmobilePerris–

A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.

County 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 Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library in Ohio.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Prince George's County Memorial Library SystemLargo, MD955,3061.421.80$41.80
Buffalo and Erie County Public LibraryBuffalo, NY954,2360.731.06$34.33
Salt Lake County LibraryWest Jordan, UT926,6673.049.72$55.74
Fort Bend County LibrariesRichmond, TX873,8161.973.56$26.25
Baltimore County Public LibraryTowson, MD849,3163.038.09$63.59
Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public LibraryCincinnati, OH830,6394.9315.34$87.83

Nearest in size within California

All profiled systems in California