Salt Lake County Library
Salt Lake County Library is a county public library system based in West Jordan (Salt Lake County), Utah, serving a legal service area of 926,667 residents through 19 library buildings. Among the 61 profiled systems in Utah, it leads on population served, total visits, operating spending and number of library buildings.
Of all 8,561 systems profiled nationwide, it ranks eighth for physical checkouts. Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks sixth for physical checkouts per resident and records the sixth-smallest decline in visits since FY 2019, but ranks ninth-lowest for public computers per resident.
Salt Lake County against the 61 systems of its size class
Salt Lake County, building by building
The 19 buildings cover 446,264 square feet in total, 0.48 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is West Jordan Library at 71,665 square feet; the smallest is South Main Health Clinic Library at 700. The longest hours, 57.5 a week, are shared by 15 buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bingham Creek Library | Branch | West Jordan | 57.4 | 18,705 |
| Daybreak Library | Branch | South Jordan | 57.5 | 28,000 |
| Draper Library | Branch | Draper | 57.5 | 20,129 |
| Granite Library | Branch | South Salt Lake City | 57.5 | 33,000 |
| Herriman Library | Branch | Herriman | 57.5 | 20,000 |
| Holladay Library | Branch | Salt Lake City | 57.5 | 14,432 |
| Hunter Library | Branch | West Valley City | 57.5 | 19,500 |
| Kearns Library | Branch | Kearns | 57.5 | 35,000 |
| Magna Library | Branch | Magna | 57.5 | 20,000 |
| Millcreek Community Center Library | Branch | Salt Lake City | 57.4 | 20,000 |
| Riverton Library | Branch | Riverton | 57.5 | 13,400 |
| Ruth V. Tyler Library | Branch | Midvale | 57.5 | 11,346 |
| Sandy Library | Branch | Sandy | 57.5 | 26,200 |
| South Jordan Library | Branch | South Jordan | 57.5 | 20,000 |
| South Main Health Clinic Library | Branch | Salt Lake City | 38.4 | 700 |
| Taylorsville Library | Branch | Taylorsville | 57.5 | 11,346 |
| West Jordan Library | Branch | West Jordan | 57.4 | 71,665 |
| West Valley Library | Branch | West Valley City | 57.5 | 13,619 |
| Whitmore Library | Branch | Salt Lake City | 57.5 | 49,222 |
Salt Lake County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 2,817,610
- Physical checkouts
- 9,006,312
- …of children's materials
- 5,596,988
- Electronic checkouts
- 3,597,388
- …of e-books
- 1,392,834
- …of e-audio
- 2,144,147
- Registered users
- 555,208
- Program sessions
- 10,763
- Program attendance
- 331,467
- Print volumes
- 1,557,944
- Audio items (physical)
- 99,319
- Video items (physical)
- 144,152
- Public computers
- 269
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 55,108
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 404.8
- Operating spending
- $51.6 million
- …on books and other materials
- $6.9 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Salt Lake County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $61.7 million, or $66.62 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 61 profiled systems in Utah.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Salt Lake County since FY 2019
Visits were 11% below the FY 2019 count of 3.2 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 16% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Salt Lake County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 59% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 31 people each.
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 Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gwinnett County Public Library System | Lawrenceville, GA | 992,705 | 2.06 | 2.73 | $25.88 |
| Columbus Metropolitan Library | Columbus, OH | 971,930 | 5.63 | 9.76 | $85.18 |
| Prince George's County Memorial Library System | Largo, MD | 955,306 | 1.42 | 1.80 | $41.80 |
| Buffalo and Erie County Public Library | Buffalo, NY | 954,236 | 0.73 | 1.06 | $34.33 |
| Kern County Library | Bakersfield, CA | 888,074 | 0.79 | 0.85 | $11.75 |
| Fort Bend County Libraries | Richmond, TX | 873,816 | 1.97 | 3.56 | $26.25 |
Nearest in size within Utah
- Davis County Library · Farmington · 373,207 residents
- Weber County Library System · Roy · 271,926 residents
- Salt Lake City Public Library System · Salt Lake City · 209,593 residents
- Washington County Library System · St. George · 202,452 residents