librarysystems

San Jose Public Library

San Jose, CaliforniaSanta Clara CountyMunicipal libraryLarge cityFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

San Jose Public Library is a municipal public library system based in San Jose (Santa Clara County), California, serving a legal service area of 969,491 residents through 25 library buildings. Of all 8,476 systems profiled nationwide, it ranks fifth for program attendance.

Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks first for program attendance per resident, eighth for visits per resident, eighth for library floor space per resident and tenth for local government's share of operating revenue. Among the 170 profiled systems in California, it ranks fifth for total visits, sixth for physical checkouts, eighth for operating spending and tenth for population served.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 500,000 to 999,999

San Jose against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class3.80Visitsper resident88th percentile5.94Checkoutsper resident73rd percentile$64.75Spendingper resident68th percentile1.71Print volumesper resident78th percentile552Program visitsper 1,000 people99th percentile7.4Computersper 10,000 people60th percentile4.2Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people53rd percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident3.8088th pct.Checkouts per resident5.9473rd pct.Spending per resident$64.7568th pct.Print volumes per resident1.7178th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people55299th pct.Computers per 10,000 people7.460th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people4.253rd pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

San Jose since FY 2019

Visits were 41% below the FY 2019 count of 6.2 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 18% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to San Jose programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 57% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 25 people each.

Children 0–11305,413Young adults 12–1893,656Adults 19+58,835General interest77,375
Children 0–11305,413Young adults 12–1893,656Adults 19+58,835General interest77,375

San Jose in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
3,679,282
Physical checkouts
5,758,753
…of children's materials
3,483,783
Electronic checkouts
2,158,249
…of e-books
1,084,452
…of e-audio
844,850
Registered users
762,169
Program sessions
21,439
Program attendance
535,279
Print volumes
1,660,974
Audio items (physical)
76,503
Video items (physical)
201,927
Public computers
719
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
404.2
Operating spending
$62.8 million
…on books and other materials
$5.8 million
Overdue fines on print items
charged

Where San Jose gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $61.2 million, or $63.08 per resident. The local-government share sits 4 percentage points above the combined share for the 170 profiled systems in California.

This system98%All profiled systems in California94%
This system98%All profiled systems in California94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

San Jose, building by building

The 25 buildings cover 912,086 square feet in total, 0.94 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at 475,000 square feet; the smallest is Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library at 2,200. The longest hours are at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, 69.4 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. LibraryCentral librarySan Jose69.4475,000
Almaden Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose41.520,000
Alviso LibraryBranchSan Jose–6,050
Bascom Library and Community CenterBranchSan Jose48.620,000
Berryessa LibraryBranchSan Jose44.726,000
Biblioteca LatinoamericanaBranchSan Jose4615,100
Calabazas Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose41.510,000
Cambrian LibraryBranchSan Jose45.227,800
Dr. Roberto Cruz Alum Rock Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose48.526,500
East San Jose Carnegie LibraryBranchSan Jose4612,000
Edenvale Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose48.522,220
Educational Park Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose48.218,000
Evergreen Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose4822,318
Hillview LibraryBranchSan Jose44.821,398
Joyce Ellington Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose48.614,500
Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood LibraryBranchSan Jose22.72,200
Pearl Avenue LibraryBranchSan Jose41.514,000
Rose Garden LibraryBranchSan Jose41.619,000
Santa Teresa LibraryBranchSan Jose41.522,000
Seven Trees Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose48.621,000
Tully Community Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose48.724,000
Village Square Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose41.516,000
Vineland Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose45.124,000
West Valley LibraryBranchSan Jose48.220,000
Willow Glen Branch LibraryBranchSan Jose41.513,000

A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.

Municipal libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, one records more visits per resident than this one. None of them matches this system's checkouts per resident.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Denver Public LibraryDenver, CO715,6363.575.86$127.68
District of Columbia Public LibraryWashington, DC702,2504.815.46$121.10
El Paso Public LibraryEl Paso, TX678,9581.051.50$15.67
Detroit Public LibraryDetroit, MI639,1110.540.27$48.30
Milwaukee Public LibraryMilwaukee, WI577,8952.001.86$59.20
Enoch Pratt Free LibraryBaltimore, MD576,4982.072.18$92.89

Nearest in size within California

All profiled systems in California