Somerset County Library
Somerset County Library is a county public library system based in Bridgewater (Somerset County), New Jersey, serving a legal service area of 224,243 residents through 11 library buildings. Among profiled systems in New Jersey, it ranks second for physical checkouts, second for operating spending, second for program attendance and third for total visits.
By population served it is the eighth-largest of the 262 profiled systems in New Jersey. Against the median system of its size class, it records 3.6 times the program attendance per resident and 3.0 times the physical checkouts per resident.
Somerset County against the 360 systems of its size class
Who comes to Somerset County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 59% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 28 people each.
Nearest in size within New Jersey
- Atlantic County Library · Mays Landing · 214,422 residents
- Jersey City Free Public Library · Jersey City · 292,449 residents
- Mercer County Library · Lawrenceville · 168,771 residents
- Newark Public Library · Newark · 311,549 residents
Somerset County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 865,553
- Physical checkouts
- 2,078,466
- …of children's materials
- 541,581
- Electronic checkouts
- 504,617
- …of e-books
- 300,083
- …of e-audio
- 184,578
- Registered users
- 83,099
- Program sessions
- 6,293
- Program attendance
- 179,103
- Print volumes
- 576,873
- Audio items (physical)
- 40,775
- Video items (physical)
- 62,210
- Public computers
- 186
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 24,862
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 136.9
- Operating spending
- $18.9 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1.8 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Somerset County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $19.4 million, or $86.56 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 262 profiled systems in New Jersey. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Somerset County, building by building
The 10 buildings cover 166,718 square feet in total, 0.74 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Bridgewater Branch at 51,061 square feet; the smallest is Peapack Gladstone Branch Library at 2,363. The longest hours, 58.3 a week, are shared by four buildings.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater Branch | Central library | Bridgewater | 58.3 | 51,061 |
| Hillsborough Branch Library | Branch | Belle Mead | 58.3 | 27,200 |
| Manville Public Library | Branch | Manville | 53.9 | 16,597 |
| Mary Jacobs Branch Library | Branch | Rocky Hill | 19.8 | 3,200 |
| Montgomery Branch Library | Branch | Skillman | 58.3 | 21,500 |
| North Plainfield Branch Library | Branch | North Plainfield | 53.9 | 11,000 |
| Peapack Gladstone Branch Library | Branch | Peapack | 55.6 | 2,363 |
| Somerville Branch Library | Branch | Somerville | 53.9 | 8,200 |
| Warren Township Branch Library | Branch | Warren | 58.3 | 21,600 |
| Watchung Branch Library | Branch | Watchung | 40.4 | 3,997 |
County 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.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arlington Dept. of Libraries | Arlington, VA | 237,107 | 4.69 | 9.18 | $76.59 |
| Monterey County Free Libraries | Marina, CA | 230,383 | 2.18 | 1.48 | $44.11 |
| Berkeley County Library System | Moncks Corner, SC | 229,861 | 1.48 | 2.77 | $19.45 |
| Shreve Memorial Library | Shreveport, LA | 224,893 | 3.07 | 2.59 | $86.91 |
| Hall County Library System | Gainesville, GA | 220,128 | 1.32 | 2.02 | $18.92 |
| Onslow County Public Library | Jacksonville, NC | 213,447 | 1.32 | 2.07 | $12.68 |