Springfield City Library
Springfield City Library is a municipal public library system based in Springfield (Hampden County), Massachusetts, serving a legal service area of 154,064 residents through nine library buildings. Among the 354 profiled systems in Massachusetts, it ranks second for number of library buildings, second for public computers, third for population served and third for operating spending.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.6 times the public computers per resident and 89% more print volumes per resident.
Springfield City against the 360 systems of its size class
Springfield City, building by building
The nine buildings cover 157,707 square feet in total, 1.02 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. The largest building is Springfield City Library at 69,622 square feet; the smallest is East Springfield Branch Library at 3,315.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield City Library | Central library | Springfield | – | 69,622 |
| Brightwood Branch Library | Branch | Springfield | – | 6,000 |
| East Forest Park | Branch | Springfield | – | 18,000 |
| East Springfield Branch Library | Branch | Springfield | – | 3,315 |
| Forest Park Branch Library | Branch | Springfield | – | 13,372 |
| Indian Orchard Branch Library | Branch | Indian Orchard | – | 9,406 |
| Mason Square Branch Library | Branch | Springfield | – | 17,141 |
| Pine Point Branch Library | Branch | Springfield | – | 9,720 |
| Sixteen Acres Branch Library | Branch | Springfield | – | 11,131 |
A dash marks a value not reported for FY 2024.
Springfield City in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 367,342
- Physical checkouts
- 261,583
- …of children's materials
- 88,833
- Registered users
- 56,386
- Program sessions
- 4,904
- Program attendance
- 44,817
- Print volumes
- 402,329
- Audio items (physical)
- 28,109
- Video items (physical)
- 60,009
- Public computers
- 231
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 77.2
- Operating spending
- $9.5 million
- …on books and other materials
- $698,144
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Springfield City gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $10.3 million, or $66.70 per resident. The local-government share sits 3 percentage points above the combined share for the 354 profiled systems in Massachusetts.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Springfield City since FY 2019
Visits were 43% below the FY 2019 count of 639,027 (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 35% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Springfield City programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 41% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 9 people each.
Municipal libraries 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 Hillsboro Public Library in Oregon.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunnyvale Public Library | Sunnyvale, CA | 157,566 | 2.47 | 9.04 | $72.11 |
| Billings Public Library | Billings, MT | 157,509 | 1.76 | 3.00 | $29.22 |
| Hillsboro Public Library | Hillsboro, OR | 157,379 | 4.00 | 11.46 | $78.29 |
| Corona Public Library | Corona, CA | 156,615 | 1.42 | 2.08 | $16.16 |
| Rochester Public Library | Rochester, MN | 156,036 | 2.56 | 7.31 | $62.95 |
| Roseville Public Library | Roseville, CA | 154,329 | 2.68 | 6.96 | $26.59 |
Nearest in size within Massachusetts
- Cambridge Public Library · Cambridge · 118,488 residents
- Worcester Public Library · Worcester · 205,319 residents
- Samuel S. Pollard Memorial Library · Lowell · 113,608 residents
- Brockton Public Library · Brockton · 104,826 residents