librarysystems

Sno-Isle Libraries

Marysville, WashingtonSnohomish CountyLibrary districtMid-size suburbFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Sno-Isle Libraries is a library district based in Marysville (Snohomish County), Washington, serving a legal service area of 819,554 residents through 23 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among profiled systems in Washington, it ranks second for population served, second for physical checkouts, second for program attendance and second for weekly open hours per outlet, but ranks second-lowest for library floor space per resident.

Among the 52 profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks tenth for the electronic share of checkouts. Against the median system of its size class, it records 80% more physical checkouts per resident and 56% more operating spending per resident.

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

Sno-Isle against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.99Visitsper resident76th percentile6.94Checkoutsper resident81st percentile$74.67Spendingper resident78th percentile0.92Print volumesper resident32nd percentile182Program visitsper 1,000 people48th percentile8.8Computersper 10,000 people71st percentile54.6Open hoursper outlet a week69th percentile4.8Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people65th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.9976th pct.Checkouts per resident6.9481st pct.Spending per resident$74.6778th pct.Print volumes per resident0.9232nd pct.Program visits per 1,000 people18248th pct.Computers per 10,000 people8.871st pct.Open hours per outlet a week54.669th pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people4.865th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Sno-Isle, building by building

The 23 buildings cover 219,034 square feet in total, 0.27 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Lynnwood Library at 25,920 square feet; the smallest is Clinton Library at 1,296. The longest hours are at Edmonds Library, 66.6 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Arlington LibraryBranchArlington565,055
Brier LibraryBranchBrier402,840
Camano Island LibraryBranchCamano Island485,429
Clinton LibraryBranchClinton401,296
Coupeville LibraryBranchCoupeville586,000
Darrington LibraryBranchDarrington483,372
Edmonds LibraryBranchEdmonds66.616,726
Freeland LibraryBranchFreeland584,854
Granite Falls LibraryBranchGranite Falls566,534
Lake Stevens LibraryBranchLake Stevens525,000
Lakewood/Smokey Point LibraryBranchArlington394,163
Langley LibraryBranchLangley48.94,985
Lynnwood LibraryBranchLynnwood6425,920
Mariner LibraryBranchEverett523,850
Marysville LibraryBranchMarysville6423,000
Mill Creek LibraryBranchMill Creek607,400
Monroe LibraryBranchMonroe5620,000
Mountlake Terrace LibraryBranchMountlake Terrace6412,842
Mukilteo Public LibraryBranchMukilteo6415,268
Oak Harbor LibraryBranchOak Harbor6411,200
Snohomish LibraryBranchSnohomish6423,500
Stanwood LibraryBranchStanwood585,400
Sultan LibraryBranchSultan504,400
Library on WheelsBookmobileMarysville42.5

Sno-Isle in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
2,447,713
Physical checkouts
5,683,668
…of children's materials
2,517,534
Electronic checkouts
5,218,616
…of e-books
2,393,971
…of e-audio
2,295,457
Registered users
516,489
Program sessions
5,867
Program attendance
149,265
Print volumes
757,048
Audio items (physical)
38,797
Video items (physical)
109,550
Public computers
725
Public service hours, all outlets
68,094
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
394.0
Operating spending
$61.2 million
…on books and other materials
$6.3 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Sno-Isle gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $72.3 million, or $88.26 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 56 profiled systems in Washington.

This system91%All profiled systems in Washington94%
This system91%All profiled systems in Washington94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Sno-Isle since FY 2019

Visits were 24% below the FY 2019 count of 3.2 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 35% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 10060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 10060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Sno-Isle programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 72% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 25 people each.

Children 0–11107,925Young adults 12–182,513Adults 19+17,928General interest20,899
Children 0–11107,925Young adults 12–182,513Adults 19+17,928General interest20,899

Library districts of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, four record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Kent District Library in Michigan.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Pikes Peak Library DistrictColorado Springs, CO678,6842.815.34$48.53
Kent District LibraryComstock Park, MI439,1945.1811.80$70.65
Rangeview Library DistrictThornton, CO406,7181.841.59$51.73
Saint Charles City-County Library DistrictSt. Peters, MO405,2623.0211.03$50.18
Allen County Public LibraryFort Wayne, IN385,4104.448.37$95.43
Douglas County LibrariesCastle Rock, CO383,9113.659.77$87.76

Nearest in size within Washington

All profiled systems in Washington