Spartanburg County Public Library System
Spartanburg County Public Library System is a county public library system based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, serving a legal service area of 327,997 residents through 10 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina, it ranks first for program attendance, first for program attendance per resident, second for weekly open hours per outlet and second for local government's share of operating revenue.
By population served it is the fifth-largest of the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina. Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.0 times the paid staff per resident and 47% more operating spending per resident.
Spartanburg County against the 122 systems of its size class
Who comes to Spartanburg County programs
Programs for a general audience drew 63% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 34 people each.
Nearest in size within South Carolina
- Horry County Memorial Library · Conway · 351,029 residents
- Lexington County Public Library System · Lexington · 293,991 residents
- York County Library System · Rock Hill · 282,090 residents
- Charleston County Public Library System · Charleston · 408,235 residents
Spartanburg County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 945,785
- Physical checkouts
- 1,488,466
- …of children's materials
- 748,540
- Electronic checkouts
- 736,411
- …of e-books
- 261,223
- …of e-audio
- 394,947
- Registered users
- 192,052
- Program sessions
- 8,047
- Program attendance
- 270,324
- Print volumes
- 471,224
- Audio items (physical)
- 14,119
- Video items (physical)
- 54,059
- Public computers
- 190
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 33,472
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 207.9
- Operating spending
- $17.3 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1.6 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Spartanburg County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $20.8 million, or $63.31 per resident. The local-government share sits 4 percentage points above the combined share for the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Spartanburg County, building by building
The 10 buildings cover 205,573 square feet in total, 0.63 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Spartanburg County Public Library System at 105,000 square feet; the smallest is Pacolet Branch Library at 5,600. The longest hours are at Westside Branch Library, 95 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spartanburg County Public Library System | Central library | Spartanburg | 91.3 | 105,000 |
| Boiling Springs Library | Branch | Boiling Springs | 58.5 | 9,000 |
| Chesnee Branch Library | Branch | Chesnee | 52 | 7,773 |
| Cowpens Branch Library | Branch | Cowpens | 50 | 8,800 |
| Inman Branch Library | Branch | Inman | 56 | 11,900 |
| Landrum Branch Library | Branch | Landrum | 56 | 12,500 |
| Middle Tyger Branch Library | Branch | Lyman | 58.5 | 12,500 |
| Pacolet Branch Library | Branch | Pacolet | 48 | 5,600 |
| Westside Branch Library | Branch | Spartanburg | 95 | 21,000 |
| Woodruff Branch Library | Branch | Woodruff | 48.8 | 11,500 |
| Spartanburg County Public Libraries Bkmobile | Bookmobile | Spartanburg | 29.7 |
County 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 Lexington Public Library in Kentucky.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham County Library | Durham, NC | 334,350 | 1.50 | 6.70 | $41.93 |
| West Florida Public Libraries | Pensacola, FL | 334,119 | 1.17 | 2.03 | $23.55 |
| St. Johns County Public Library System | St. Augustine, FL | 331,327 | 2.25 | 3.65 | $28.69 |
| Camden County Library | Voorhees, NJ | 324,221 | 1.45 | 1.73 | $33.51 |
| Lexington Public Library | Lexington, KY | 320,154 | 3.12 | 10.71 | $54.12 |
| Clayton County Library System | Jonesboro, GA | 302,512 | 1.07 | 0.55 | $19.59 |