Wilmington Institute Library
Wilmington Institute Library is a city-county public library system based in Wilmington (New Castle County), Delaware, serving a legal service area of 54,227 residents through two library buildings. Among the 21 profiled systems in Delaware, it ranks second for program attendance, second for print volumes, second for print volumes per resident and third for total visits, but ranks second-lowest for physical checkouts per resident.
By population served it is the fifth-largest of the 21 profiled systems in Delaware. Against the median system of its size class, it records 3.7 times the program attendance per resident and 2.2 times the public computers per resident.
Wilmington Institute against the 559 systems of its size class
Who comes to Wilmington Institute programs
Programs for adults drew 68% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 158 people each.
Nearest in size within Delaware
- Kent County Public Library · Dover · 61,418 residents
- Dover Public Library · Dover · 62,955 residents
- Sussex County Dept. of Libraries · Georgetown · 71,278 residents
- Smyrna Public Library · Smyrna · 39,824 residents
Wilmington Institute in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 191,320
- Physical checkouts
- 74,418
- …of children's materials
- 24,803
- Electronic checkouts
- 23,726
- …of e-books
- 10,944
- …of e-audio
- 12,021
- Registered users
- 13,648
- Program sessions
- 365
- Program attendance
- 57,587
- Print volumes
- 149,683
- Audio items (physical)
- 2,769
- Video items (physical)
- 11,250
- Public computers
- 69
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 5,044
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 24.5
- Operating spending
- $2.9 million
- …on books and other materials
- $145,238
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Wilmington Institute gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $2.5 million, or $45.98 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 21 profiled systems in Delaware.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Wilmington Institute, building by building
The two buildings cover 58,228 square feet in total, 1.07 square feet per resident against a median of 0.62 for the size class. The largest building is Wilmington Institute Library at 45,592 square feet; the smallest is North Wilmington Library at 12,636. The longest hours are at Wilmington Institute Library, 54 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington Institute Library | Central library | Wilmington | 54 | 45,592 |
| North Wilmington Library | Branch | Wilmington | 43 | 12,636 |
City-county libraries of similar size in other states
None of these six systems records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Saratoga Springs Public Library in Utah.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel-Jones County Library System, Inc. | Laurel, MS | 66,250 | 1.12 | 1.11 | $16.52 |
| Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System | Pine Bluff, AR | 63,672 | 1.38 | 1.30 | $27.60 |
| Pearl River County Library System | Picayune, MS | 57,978 | 1.07 | 1.02 | $16.64 |
| Columbus-Lowndes Public Library | Columbus, MS | 57,283 | 1.21 | 0.96 | $13.92 |
| Saratoga Springs Public Library | Saratoga Springs, UT | 52,532 | 1.81 | 4.85 | $16.19 |
| Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library | Nogales, AZ | 50,580 | 0.72 | 1.25 | $8.68 |