Salt Lake City Public Library System
Salt Lake City Public Library System is a municipal public library system based in Salt Lake City (Salt Lake County), Utah, serving a legal service area of 209,593 residents through eight library buildings. Among profiled systems serving 100,000 to 249,999 residents, it ranks second for paid staff per resident, third for library floor space per resident and tenth for visits per resident.
Among the 61 profiled systems in Utah, it ranks second for operating spending, second for public computers, second for local government's share of operating revenue and third for total visits. Against the median system of its size class, it records 3.5 times the operating spending per resident and 2.7 times the physical checkouts per resident.
Salt Lake City against the 360 systems of its size class
Salt Lake City in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,074,028
- Physical checkouts
- 1,750,648
- …of children's materials
- 767,568
- Electronic checkouts
- 1,133,060
- …of e-books
- 392,981
- …of e-audio
- 534,781
- Registered users
- 132,914
- Program sessions
- 2,616
- Program attendance
- 76,414
- Print volumes
- 343,146
- Audio items (physical)
- 47,476
- Video items (physical)
- 80,979
- Public computers
- 236
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 22,694
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 259.1
- Operating spending
- $24.8 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2.3 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Salt Lake City gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $27 million, or $128.77 per resident. The local-government share sits 4 percentage points above the combined share for the 61 profiled systems in Utah. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
None of these six systems records more visits per resident than this one. None of them matches this system's checkouts per resident.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan+College Station Public Library System | Bryan, TX | 214,807 | 1.52 | 3.03 | $14.33 |
| McKinney Public Library System | McKinney, TX | 213,509 | 2.46 | 6.87 | $20.59 |
| Yonkers Public Library | Yonkers, NY | 211,569 | 3.33 | 1.89 | $54.04 |
| Rochester Public Library | Rochester, NY | 211,328 | 3.99 | 3.62 | $94.91 |
| Moreno Valley Public Library | Moreno Valley, CA | 207,146 | 1.23 | 1.18 | $16.12 |
| Worcester Public Library | Worcester, MA | 205,319 | 2.15 | 3.15 | $38.77 |
Salt Lake City since FY 2019
Visits were 26% below the FY 2019 count of 1.5 million (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 40% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Salt Lake City programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 55% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 29 people each.
Salt Lake City, building by building
The eight buildings cover 337,238 square feet in total, 1.61 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Salt Lake City Public Library Main Library at 240,000 square feet; the smallest is Salt Lake City Public Library Corinne and Jack Sweet Branch at 8,680. The longest hours are at Salt Lake City Public Library Main Library, 59.5 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City Public Library Main Library | Central library | Salt Lake City | 59.5 | 240,000 |
| Salt Lake City Public Library Anderson-Foothill Branch | Branch | Salt Lake City | 53.8 | 15,000 |
| Salt Lake City Public Library Chapman Branch | Branch | Salt Lake City | 53.8 | 8,900 |
| Salt Lake City Public Library Corinne and Jack Sweet Branch | Branch | Salt Lake City | 53.8 | 8,680 |
| Salt Lake City Public Library Day-Riverside Branch | Branch | Salt Lake City | 53.8 | 13,000 |
| Salt Lake City Public Library Glendale Branch | Branch | Salt Lake City | 53.8 | 20,000 |
| Salt Lake City Public Library Marmalade Branch | Branch | Salt Lake City | 53.8 | 18,600 |
| Salt Lake City Public Library Sprague Branch | Branch | Salt Lake City | 53.8 | 13,058 |
Nearest in size within Utah
- Washington County Library System · St. George · 202,452 residents
- Weber County Library System · Roy · 271,926 residents
- Davis County Library · Farmington · 373,207 residents
- Provo City Library · Provo · 113,343 residents