Virginia Beach Public Library
Virginia Beach Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, serving a legal service area of 458,028 residents through 10 library buildings. Among the 93 profiled systems in Virginia, it ranks third for population served, fifth for operating spending, sixth for total visits and eighth for physical checkouts.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 95% more paid staff per resident and 28% more operating spending per resident.
Virginia Beach against the 122 systems of its size class
Virginia Beach, building by building
The 10 buildings cover 218,308 square feet in total, 0.48 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Central Library at 95,000 square feet; the smallest is Pungo-Blackwater Library at 4,300. The longest hours are at Joint-Use Library (Tcc/City of Vb), 61 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Library | Central library | Virginia Beach | 60 | 95,000 |
| Bayside Area Library | Branch | Virginia Beach | 56 | 18,638 |
| Great Neck Area Library | Branch | Virginia Beach | 50 | 11,820 |
| Joint-Use Library (Tcc/City of Vb) | Branch | Virginia Beach | 61 | 21,250 |
| Kempsville Area Library | Branch | Virginia Beach | 50 | 22,000 |
| Oceanfront Area Library | Branch | Virginia Beach | 56 | 16,000 |
| Princess Anne Area Library | Branch | Virginia Beach | 56 | 16,000 |
| Pungo-Blackwater Library | Branch | Virginia Beach | 50 | 4,300 |
| Wahab Public Law Library | Branch | Virginia Beach | 40 | 5,000 |
| Windsor Woods Area Library | Branch | Virginia Beach | 50 | 8,300 |
Virginia Beach in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 911,501
- Physical checkouts
- 1,466,727
- …of children's materials
- 777,632
- Electronic checkouts
- 899,119
- …of e-books
- 347,247
- …of e-audio
- 433,575
- Registered users
- 80,109
- Program sessions
- 5,988
- Program attendance
- 103,953
- Print volumes
- 452,959
- Audio items (physical)
- 21,389
- Video items (physical)
- 37,454
- Public computers
- 300
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 27,508
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 280.0
- Operating spending
- $21.1 million
- …on books and other materials
- $2 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Virginia Beach gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $21.7 million, or $47.37 per resident. The local-government share sits 6 percentage points above the combined share for the 93 profiled systems in Virginia. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Virginia Beach since FY 2019
Visits were 28% below the FY 2019 count of 1.3 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 29% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Virginia Beach programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 74% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 17 people each.
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, two record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Oakland Public Library in California.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa Public Library | Mesa, AZ | 524,892 | 1.24 | 3.04 | $16.78 |
| Long Beach Public Library | Long Beach, CA | 458,813 | 1.43 | 1.64 | $41.43 |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland, CA | 449,189 | 3.02 | 4.75 | $105.99 |
| Greensboro Public Library | Greensboro, NC | 435,509 | 2.50 | 2.53 | $25.49 |
| Arlington Public Library System | Arlington, TX | 398,431 | 1.87 | 3.01 | $25.83 |
| Wichita Public Library | Wichita, KS | 396,119 | 1.63 | 2.61 | $31.14 |
Nearest in size within Virginia
- Loudoun County Public Library · Leesburg · 425,204 residents
- Prince William Public Libraries · Prince William · 525,441 residents
- Chesterfield County Public Library · Chesterfield · 369,943 residents
- Central Rappahannock Regional Library · Fredericksburg · 347,033 residents