Wichita Public Library
Wichita Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Wichita (Sedgwick County), Kansas, serving a legal service area of 396,119 residents through seven library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 294 profiled systems in Kansas, it ranks second for population served, second for total visits, second for print volumes and third for operating spending, but ranks second-lowest for print volumes per resident and second-lowest for public computers per resident.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 26% fewer physical checkouts per resident and 26% fewer visits per resident.
Wichita against the 122 systems of its size class
Wichita, building by building
The seven buildings cover 165,388 square feet in total, 0.42 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Advanced Learning Library at 105,200 square feet; the smallest is Maya Angelou Northeast at 4,900. The longest hours are at Advanced Learning Library, 57.2 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Learning Library | Central library | Wichita | 57.2 | 105,200 |
| Evergreen | Branch | Wichita | 55.2 | 9,669 |
| Ford Rockwell | Branch | Wichita | 55.2 | 10,252 |
| Lionel D Alford | Branch | Wichita | 55.2 | 18,349 |
| Maya Angelou Northeast | Branch | Wichita | 31 | 4,900 |
| Ronald W Walters Branch | Branch | Wichita | 37.4 | 6,913 |
| Westlink | Branch | Wichita | 46.2 | 10,105 |
| Wichita Public Library Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Wichita | 11 |
Wichita in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 646,814
- Physical checkouts
- 1,032,046
- …of children's materials
- 487,200
- Electronic checkouts
- 679,470
- …of e-books
- 288,446
- …of e-audio
- 284,373
- Registered users
- 285,484
- Program sessions
- 1,485
- Program attendance
- 64,764
- Print volumes
- 445,122
- Audio items (physical)
- 14,112
- Video items (physical)
- 32,577
- Public computers
- 120
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 17,578
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 115.5
- Operating spending
- $12.3 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1.1 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Wichita gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $12.6 million, or $31.89 per resident. The local-government share sits 7 percentage points above the combined share for the 288 profiled systems in Kansas. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Wichita since FY 2019
Visits were 37% below the FY 2019 count of 1 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 41% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Wichita programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 46% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 44 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 Oakland Public Library in California.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach Public Library | Long Beach, CA | 458,813 | 1.43 | 1.64 | $41.43 |
| Virginia Beach Public Library | Virginia Beach, VA | 458,028 | 1.99 | 3.20 | $46.01 |
| 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 |
| Aurora Public Library | Aurora, CO | 394,380 | 1.42 | 1.89 | $17.68 |
Nearest in size within Kansas
- Johnson County Library · Overland Park · 474,776 residents
- Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library · Topeka · 173,973 residents
- Kansas City, Kansas Public Library · Kansas City · 157,667 residents
- Olathe Public Library · Olathe · 147,461 residents