San Mateo County Libraries
San Mateo County Libraries is a county public library system based in San Mateo, California, serving a legal service area of 273,370 residents through 13 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among profiled systems serving 250,000 to 499,999 residents, it ranks first for visits per resident, first for program attendance per resident, second for operating spending per resident and fourth for public computers per resident.
By population served it is the 26th-largest of the 170 profiled systems in California. Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.5 times the physical checkouts per resident and 65% more paid staff per resident.
San Mateo County against the 122 systems of its size class
San Mateo County since FY 2019
Visits were 21% below the FY 2019 count of 2.1 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 22% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to San Mateo County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 63% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 31 people each.
San Mateo County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,694,111
- Physical checkouts
- 2,399,219
- …of children's materials
- 1,414,583
- Electronic checkouts
- 1,011,033
- …of e-books
- 401,015
- …of e-audio
- 342,599
- Registered users
- 116,102
- Program sessions
- 8,351
- Program attendance
- 255,833
- Print volumes
- 471,819
- Audio items (physical)
- 14,172
- Video items (physical)
- 35,650
- Public computers
- 490
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 36,755
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 141.3
- Operating spending
- $43.7 million
- …on books and other materials
- $4 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where San Mateo County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $48.1 million, or $176.09 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 170 profiled systems in California.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
San Mateo County, building by building
The 13 buildings cover 166,058 square feet in total, 0.61 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Millbrae Library at 26,200 square feet; the smallest is North Fair Oaks Library at 3,800. The longest hours, 57.3 a week, are shared by 10 buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atherton Library | Branch | Atherton | 57.3 | 11,460 |
| Belmont Library | Branch | Belmont | 57.3 | 20,230 |
| Brisbane Library | Branch | Brisbane | 57.3 | 7,670 |
| East Palo Alto Library | Branch | East Palo Alto | 57.3 | 7,680 |
| Foster City Library | Branch | Foster City | 57.3 | 23,708 |
| Half Moon Bay Library | Branch | Half Moon Bay | 57.1 | 22,000 |
| Millbrae Library | Branch | Millbrae | 57.3 | 26,200 |
| North Fair Oaks Library | Branch | Redwood City | 57.3 | 3,800 |
| Pacifica Library | Branch | Pacifica | – | 6,080 |
| Portola Valley Library | Branch | Portola Valley | 57.3 | 6,450 |
| San Carlos Library | Branch | San Carlos | 57.3 | 21,836 |
| Sanchez Library | Branch | Pacifica | 15.8 | 4,444 |
| Woodside Library | Branch | Woodside | 57.3 | 4,500 |
| San Mateo County Bookmobile | Bookmobile | San Mateo | 8.8 |
A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.
County 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick County Public Libraries | Frederick, MD | 279,835 | 3.66 | 8.32 | $69.33 |
| Forsyth County Public Library | Cumming, GA | 279,366 | 2.73 | 8.20 | $34.06 |
| St. Tammany Parish Library | Covington, LA | 277,615 | 2.18 | 2.30 | $40.32 |
| Buncombe County Public Libraries | Asheville, NC | 277,047 | 2.67 | 4.43 | $28.99 |
| Brown County Library | Green Bay, WI | 273,297 | 2.31 | 4.70 | $26.67 |
| Weber County Library System | Roy, UT | 271,926 | 3.98 | 4.87 | $50.95 |
Nearest in size within California
- Chula Vista Public Library · Chula Vista · 278,247 residents
- San Luis Obispo City-County Library · San Luis Obispo · 247,562 residents
- Ventura County Library · Ventura · 244,172 residents
- Santa Ana Public Library · Santa Ana · 310,797 residents