San Bernardino Public Library
San Bernardino Public Library is a municipal public library system based in San Bernardino, California, serving a legal service area of 226,541 residents through four library buildings. Among profiled systems serving 100,000 to 249,999 residents, it ranks fourth-lowest for program attendance per resident and records the second-steepest decline in visits since FY 2019 and the eighth-steepest decline in physical checkouts since FY 2019.
Among the 170 profiled systems in California, it ranks last for visits per resident and last for physical checkouts per resident. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 37% of the operating spending per resident and only 48% of the paid staff per resident.
San Bernardino against the 360 systems of its size class
San Bernardino since FY 2019
Visits were 77% below the FY 2019 count of 189,047 (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 59% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to San Bernardino programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 68% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 8 people each.
San Bernardino in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 43,032
- Physical checkouts
- 40,556
- …of children's materials
- 17,698
- Electronic checkouts
- 11,310
- …of e-books
- 6,394
- …of e-audio
- 4,916
- Registered users
- 20,509
- Program sessions
- 477
- Program attendance
- 3,888
- Print volumes
- 169,988
- Audio items (physical)
- 581
- Video items (physical)
- 9,460
- Public computers
- 62
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 7,080
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 37.0
- Operating spending
- $2.9 million
- …on books and other materials
- $133,334
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where San Bernardino gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $3.4 million, or $15.02 per resident. The local-government share sits 8 percentage points below the combined share for the 170 profiled systems in California. Federal money made up 3.8% of the total.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
San Bernardino, building by building
The four buildings cover 80,300 square feet in total, 0.35 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Norman F. Feldheym Library at 64,300 square feet; the smallest is Dorothy Inghram Branch Library at 3,000. The longest hours are at Norman F. Feldheym Library, 74.3 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norman F. Feldheym Library | Central library | San Bernardino | 74.3 | 64,300 |
| Dorothy Inghram Branch Library | Branch | San Bernardino | 40 | 3,000 |
| Howard M. Rowe Branch Library | Branch | San Bernardino | 40 | 5,500 |
| Paul Villasenor Branch Library | Branch | San Bernardino | 21.5 | 7,500 |
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
All six of these systems record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Midpointe Library System in Ohio.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midpointe Library System | Middletown, OH | 202,986 | 3.27 | 7.49 | $50.01 |
| Amarillo Public Library | Amarillo, TX | 202,408 | 1.83 | 5.39 | $22.38 |
| Grand Prairie Public Library System | Grand Prairie, TX | 202,134 | 1.85 | 1.20 | $18.67 |
| Grand Rapids Public Library | Grand Rapids, MI | 198,917 | 2.49 | 3.88 | $66.35 |
| Birmingham Public Library | Birmingham, AL | 196,910 | 4.53 | 1.82 | $72.70 |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe, AZ | 193,336 | 2.04 | 2.75 | $19.14 |
Nearest in size within California
- Monterey County Free Libraries · Marina · 230,383 residents
- Santa Clarita Public Library · Santa Clarita · 230,428 residents
- Santa Cruz Public Libraries · Santa Cruz · 211,540 residents
- Ventura County Library · Ventura · 244,172 residents