2023 Statistical & Financial Summaries
View details about 2023’s budget, collections, circulation and programs.
2023 Statistical & Financial Summaries
Facilities: Central Library, 26 neighborhood branches and Mobile Services
Staffing: 675 (part- and full-time)
Circulation
| Physical items | |
| 4.7 million | |
| Media (CDs, DVDs, audiobooks) | 1.2 million |
| Equipment (laptops, tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots, Kill A Watt power meters) | 42,000 |
| Total physical circulation | 6 million |
| Digital items | |
| E-books and e-audiobooks | 5.5 million |
| Streaming and downloadable media | 1.9 million |
| Total digital circulation | 7.4 million (17% increase) |
| Total circulation | 13.4 million (8% increase) |
|---|---|
| Holds placed | |
| Physical holds placed | 2.4 million |
| Digital holds placed | 3.1 million (16% increase) |
| Total holds placed | 5.5 million |
Collection Size
| Central Library collection | 1 million |
| Branch collections | 814,000 |
| Total physical collection | 1.8 million |
| Digital collection | 995,000 |
| Total collection size | 2.8 million |
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Patron activity
| Active patrons in the last 12 months | 293,000 |
| New cardholders | 75,000 |
| Number of borrowers (of physical materials) | 124,000 |
| Number of borrowers (of digital materials) | 175,000 |
| Assisted information questions answered | 234,000 |
| Classes, events and activities | 3,500 |
| Program attendance | 103,000 |
| Public computer sessions | 341,000 |
Operating budget
| Personnel | $70.2 million |
| Books and materials | $10.7 million |
| Maintenance, security and utilities | $4.4 million |
| Equipment | $1.4 million |
| Supplies | $747,000 |
| Other (City Central costs, software, training and programming support) | $6.4 million |
| Total operating budget | $93.9 million |
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Our operating budget figures include gifts from The Seattle Public Library Foundation, which accounts for 4.7% of the 2023 budget. Note that the amount and conditions of Foundation grants are at the sole discretion of The Seattle Public Library Foundation’s independent Board of Directors