librarysystems

Tulare County Free Library

Visalia, CaliforniaTulare CountyCounty libraryMid-size cityFiscal year July 2023 to June 2024

Tulare County Free Library is a county public library system based in Visalia (Tulare County), California, serving a legal service area of 345,185 residents through 17 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among profiled systems serving 250,000 to 499,999 residents, it ranks second-lowest for weekly open hours per outlet, fifth-lowest for visits per resident and sixth-lowest for paid staff per resident.

By population served it is the 21st-largest of the 170 profiled systems in California. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 20% of the physical checkouts per resident and only 45% of the public computers per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 250,000 to 499,999

Tulare County against the 122 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class0.50Visitsper resident4th percentile0.72Checkoutsper resident5th percentile$19.01Spendingper resident15th percentile0.66Print volumesper resident11th percentile95.5Program visitsper 1,000 people7th percentile2.8Computersper 10,000 people6th percentile18.9Open hoursper outlet a week1st percentile1.4Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people5th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident0.504th pct.Checkouts per resident0.725th pct.Spending per resident$19.0115th pct.Print volumes per resident0.6611th pct.Program visits per 1,000 people95.57th pct.Computers per 10,000 people2.86th pct.Open hours per outlet a week18.91st pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people1.45th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Tulare County, building by building

The 17 buildings cover 89,493 square feet in total, 0.26 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Visalia Branch Library at 45,676 square feet; the smallest is Terra Bella Library at 1,239. The longest hours are at Visalia Branch Library, 34 a week.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Visalia Branch LibraryCentral libraryVisalia3445,676
Alpaugh Branch LibraryBranchAlpaugh131,344
Dinuba Branch LibraryBranchDinuba25.78,355
Earlimart LibraryBranchEarlimart25.91,464
Exeter LibraryBranchExeter25.94,771
Farmersville Branch LibraryBranchFarmersville19.51,540
Ivanhoe LibraryBranchIvanhoe16.82,460
Lindsay LibraryBranchLindsay25.96,733
London Branch LibraryBranchDinuba16.21,440
Orosi Branch LibraryBranchOrosi22.61,494
Pixley LibraryBranchPixley25.92,880
Springville LibraryBranchSpringville171,954
Strathmore LibraryBranchStrathmore132,762
Terra Bella LibraryBranchTerra Bella9.41,239
Three Rivers LibraryBranchThree Rivers302,655
Tipton LibraryBranchTipton12.91,362
Woodlake LibraryBranchWoodlake25.91,364
BookmobileBookmobileVisalia2.6

Tulare County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
172,356
Physical checkouts
248,209
…of children's materials
129,550
Electronic checkouts
107,625
…of e-books
29,623
…of e-audio
36,470
Registered users
26,103
Program sessions
2,815
Program attendance
32,974
Print volumes
226,687
Audio items (physical)
13,233
Video items (physical)
16,453
Public computers
96
Public service hours, all outlets
17,657
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
49.1
Operating spending
$6.6 million
…on books and other materials
$322,510
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Tulare County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $7.5 million, or $21.60 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 170 profiled systems in California. Federal money made up 2.8% of the total.

This system93%All profiled systems in California94%
This system93%All profiled systems in California94%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Tulare County since FY 2019

Visits were 48% below the FY 2019 count of 329,110 (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 40% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 100406080100FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Tulare County programs

Programs for children up to age 11 drew 51% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 12 people each.

Children 0–1116,846Young adults 12–18782Adults 19+2,615General interest12,731
Children 0–1116,846Young adults 12–18782Adults 19+2,615General interest12,731

County libraries of similar size in other states

All six of these systems record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Howard County Library System in Maryland.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Horry County Memorial LibraryConway, SC351,0291.222.46$18.39
Anoka County LibraryBlaine, MN349,7591.695.40$30.80
Cumberland County Public LibraryFayetteville, NC337,9701.842.99$33.32
Henrico County Public LibraryHenrico, VA336,2264.227.36$67.13
Howard County Library SystemEllicott City, MD334,5294.7012.51$89.12
Durham County LibraryDurham, NC334,3501.506.70$41.93

Nearest in size within California

All profiled systems in California