Sonoma County Library
Sonoma County Library is a multi-jurisdictional public library system based in Rohnert Park (Sonoma County), California, serving a legal service area of 478,152 residents through 15 library buildings and one bookmobile. By population served it is the 16th-largest of the 170 profiled systems in California.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.4 times the operating spending per resident and 67% more program attendance per resident.
Sonoma County against the 122 systems of its size class
Sonoma County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 1,427,082
- Physical checkouts
- 2,733,576
- …of children's materials
- 1,226,632
- Electronic checkouts
- 1,678,308
- …of e-books
- 670,212
- …of e-audio
- 736,449
- Registered users
- 235,846
- Program sessions
- 7,036
- Program attendance
- 159,943
- Print volumes
- 596,044
- Audio items (physical)
- 18,719
- Video items (physical)
- 65,373
- Public computers
- 472
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 37,200
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 234.1
- Operating spending
- $41.6 million
- …on books and other materials
- $4 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Sonoma County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $43.5 million, or $90.93 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)
Sonoma County since FY 2019
Visits were 35% below the FY 2019 count of 2.2 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 8% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Sonoma County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 53% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 23 people each.
Multi-jurisdictional libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, one records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Huntsville-Madison County Public Library in Alabama.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Georgia Regional Library | Carrollton, GA | 510,050 | 1.34 | 2.06 | $16.52 |
| Live Oak Public Libraries | Savannah, GA | 450,821 | 1.41 | 1.72 | $25.90 |
| Pioneer Library System | Norman, OK | 422,056 | 2.37 | 3.77 | $54.96 |
| PAL Public Library Cooperative | Bronson, FL | 416,905 | 2.35 | 4.82 | $53.39 |
| Huntsville-Madison County Public Library | Huntsville, AL | 403,565 | 3.25 | 6.29 | $20.26 |
| Mobile Public Library | Mobile, AL | 371,984 | 2.09 | 3.12 | $30.22 |
Sonoma County, building by building
The 15 buildings cover 199,047 square feet in total, 0.42 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Central Santa Rosa Library at 61,800 square feet; the smallest is Occidental Community Library at 657. The longest hours are at Central Santa Rosa Library, 53.6 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Santa Rosa Library | Central library | Santa Rosa | 53.6 | 61,800 |
| Cloverdale Regional Library | Branch | Cloverdale | 52.3 | 7,200 |
| Forestville Community Library | Branch | Forestville | 22.8 | 660 |
| Guerneville Regional Library | Branch | Guerneville | 51.6 | 6,237 |
| Healdsburg Regional Library | Branch | Healdsburg | 52.3 | 11,400 |
| Northwest Santa Rosa Library | Branch | Santa Rosa | 52.3 | 7,840 |
| Occidental Community Library | Branch | Occidental | 22.8 | 657 |
| Petaluma Regional Library | Branch | Petaluma | 52.3 | 26,766 |
| Rincon Valley Regional Library | Branch | Santa Rosa | 52.3 | 15,000 |
| Rohnert Park-Cotati Regional Library | Branch | Rohnert Park | 52.3 | 24,000 |
| Roseland Regional Library | Branch | Santa Rosa | 52.3 | 4,500 |
| Sebastopol Regional Library` | Branch | Sebastopol | 52.2 | 10,000 |
| Sonoma County History & Genealogy | Branch | Santa Rosa | 29.5 | 5,387 |
| Sonoma Valley Regional Library | Branch | Sonoma | 51.9 | 10,000 |
| Windsor Regional Library | Branch | Windsor | 52.3 | 7,600 |
| Sonoma County Library Bibliobus | Bookmobile | Rohnert Park | 12.4 |
Nearest in size within California
- Long Beach Public Library · Long Beach · 458,813 residents
- Santa Clara County Library · Campbell · 456,355 residents
- Oakland Public Library · Oakland · 449,189 residents
- Solano County Library · Fairfield · 420,393 residents