librarysystems

Seattle Public Library

Seattle, WashingtonKing CountyMunicipal libraryLarge cityFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Seattle Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Seattle (King County), Washington, serving a legal service area of 797,700 residents through 27 library buildings and four bookmobiles. Of all systems profiled nationwide, it ranks fourth for electronic checkouts and tenth for operating spending.

Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks second for the electronic share of checkouts, third for operating spending per resident, eighth for paid staff per resident and ninth for visits per resident, but records the sixth-steepest decline in physical checkouts since FY 2019. Among the 57 profiled systems in Washington, it ranks second for total visits, second for public computers, second for print volumes and third for population served.

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

Seattle against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class3.68Visitsper resident86th percentile5.60Checkoutsper resident68th percentile$126Spendingper resident96th percentile1.94Print volumesper resident83rd percentile141Program visitsper 1,000 people29th percentile9.9Computersper 10,000 people86th percentile42.9Open hoursper outlet a week29th percentile7.7Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people88th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident3.6886th pct.Checkouts per resident5.6068th pct.Spending per resident$12696th pct.Print volumes per resident1.9483rd pct.Program visits per 1,000 people14129th pct.Computers per 10,000 people9.986th pct.Open hours per outlet a week42.929th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people7.788th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Seattle since FY 2019

Visits were 40% below the FY 2019 count of 4.9 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 42% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 1005060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 1005060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Seattle programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 57% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 23 people each.

Children 0–1164,090Young adults 12–188,500Adults 19+30,642General interest9,561
Children 0–1164,090Young adults 12–188,500Adults 19+30,642General interest9,561

Seattle in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
2,937,411
Physical checkouts
4,464,020
…of children's materials
1,668,792
Electronic checkouts
8,405,516
…of e-books
5,425,793
…of e-audio
2,545,378
Registered users
401,126
Program sessions
4,805
Program attendance
112,793
Print volumes
1,545,133
Audio items (physical)
82,254
Video items (physical)
102,538
Public computers
788
Public service hours, all outlets
69,155
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
612.2
Operating spending
$1 million
…on books and other materials
$10.4 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Seattle gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $99.4 million, or $124.55 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 56 profiled systems in Washington.

This system94%All profiled systems in Washington94%
This system94%All profiled systems in Washington94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Seattle, building by building

The 27 buildings cover 611,458 square feet in total, 0.77 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Central Library at 362,987 square feet; the smallest is Madrona Sally Goldmark Branch Library at 1,707. The longest hours are at Green Lake Branch Library, 70.2 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Central LibraryCentral librarySeattle60.3362,987
Ballard Branch LibraryBranchSeattle60.315,000
Beacon Hill Branch LibraryBranchSeattle53.810,400
Broadview Branch LibraryBranchSeattle54.815,000
Capitol Hill Branch LibraryBranchSeattle56.711,215
Columbia Branch LibraryBranchSeattle51.112,420
Delridge Branch LibraryBranchSeattle50.25,600
Douglass-Truth Branch LibraryBranchSeattle58.916,493
Fremont Branch LibraryBranchSeattle41.86,840
Green Lake Branch LibraryBranchSeattle70.28,090
Greenwood Branch LibraryBranchSeattle60.315,000
High Point Branch LibraryBranchSeattle56.57,200
International District/Chinatown Branch LibraryBranchSeattle51.13,930
Lake City Branch LibraryBranchSeattle56.914,290
Madrona Sally Goldmark Branch LibraryBranchSeattle38.81,707
Magnolia Branch LibraryBranchSeattle41.87,799
Montlake Branch LibraryBranchSeattle38.55,652
Newholly Branch LibraryBranchSeattle45.24,285
Northeast Branch LibraryBranchSeattle4815,000
Northgate Branch LibraryBranchSeattle46.810,000
Queen Anne Branch LibraryBranchSeattle42.27,931
Rainier Beach Branch LibraryBranchSeattle54.515,000
South Park Branch LibraryBranchSeattle58.25,019
Southwest Branch LibraryBranchSeattle49.215,000
University Branch LibraryBranchSeattle43.18,140
Wallingford Branch LibraryBranchSeattle43.42,000
West Seattle Branch LibraryBranchSeattle48.99,460
Mobile ServicesFour bookmobilesSeattle14.7

Municipal libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, three record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to San Francisco Public Library in California.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Austin Public LibraryAustin, TX979,8823.043.97$71.58
San Jose Public LibrarySan Jose, CA969,4913.805.94$64.75
San Francisco Public LibrarySan Francisco, CA843,0714.728.94$199.24
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

Nearest in size within Washington

All profiled systems in Washington