Data - June 2015 NYC Libraries by the Numbers Despite declining funds and limited hours of service, New York City’s public libraries are seeing a surge in users and uses. Below we show where the growth is happening and how funding cuts in recent years have affected performance, and provide the city’s first branch-by-branch accounting of book circulation, program attendance and visits. by David Giles In today’s information economy, New York City’s public libraries have become dynamic learning environments with an uncommonly wide range of services and resources. No longer just book repositories, libraries are places where teens can geek out on computers, the unemployed can improve their resumes, and immigrants can learn and practice English. They are community spaces where people are encouraged to share stories and impart advice, where volunteers can donate their skills and teach a class on knitting or film editing. They are platforms for community organizations and neighborhood groups, and resources for budding entrepreneurs and hobbyists. Since the early 2000s, New York City’s 207 library branches have leveraged their status as community anchors and their ability to draw on volunteers as well as librarians and other trained staff to dramatically increase the number and type of public programs on offer. Between Fiscal Years 2002 and 2014, annual attendance at these programs increased by 67 percent, or 1.1 million attendees. In Fiscal Year 2014, nearly 2.8 million New Yorkers attended a class or workshop or some other event at their local library, compared to just 1.7 million in Fiscal Year 2002. With the advent of e-lending and the proliferating selection of downloadable materials, circulation has been on the rise over the last 13 years as well. Since Fiscal Year 2002, checkouts of both physical and electronic books and other items has risen 30 percent, going from 43.4 million materials in 2002 to 56.3 million in 2014. Whether it is program attendance or circulation, no borough has seen bigger increases over this period than the Bronx. Between 2002 and 2014, libraries in the Bronx experienced a 225 percent increase in attendees at public programs, while Manhattan libraries jumped 172 percent, Staten Island branches 87 percent, Queens branches 70 percent, and Brooklyn branches 22 percent over the same period. Since 2002, branches in both Manhattan and the Bronx have experienced a 35 percent rise in circulation, while Brooklyn libraries saw a 29 percent rise. Circulation dropped in Queens (-5 percent) and Staten Island (-9 percent) over this period. Among the top 50 libraries by annual visitors, Manhattan has 15, Queens 15, Brooklyn 12, the Bronx 6 and Staten Island 2. Unsurprisingly, the city’s five large regional libraries—including Brooklyn Central, Queens Central, Mid-Manhattan, Flushing and the Bronx Library Center—attract the most library patrons. Every year, these five libraries see a combined 6.4 million people walk through their doors, welcome 288,000 attendees in their public programs and check-out 8.8 million materials. But a number of other relatively small neighborhood branches attract an enormous number of patrons every year, including Kings Highway, McKinley Park, New Utrecht, Midwood and Jackson Heights, all of which are in the top ten citywide by circulation, or Ridgewood, Long Island City, Seward Park, Riverside and Clason’s Point, which are in the top ten by program attendance. Among New York’s smallest libraries (10,000 square feet or less), McKinley Park, Corona, Sunnyside, 58th Street, Lefferts, Windsor Terrace, and Cortelyou are all extremely popular branches, with each having over 200,000 visitors per year. Remarkably, the city’s three public library systems—including the New York Public Library, which covers the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, the Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Library—have managed to expand programming and attract new patrons in a flat or even slightly negative funding environment. Operating support from the city, which is so critical for keeping the doors open, the branches staffed, and the collection of books and other resources up-to-date, has declined by 4 percent in inflation adjusted dollars since Fiscal Year 2002. Funding cuts after the September 11th terrorist attacks and then again after a full restoration of six-day service in 2008 caused the libraries to reduce staff and service hours and cut way back on the purchase of new materials. Since Fiscal Year 2009, when the libraries received over $360 million in subsidies (inflation adjusted), a bump due in small part to retroactive payments to unionized staff, funding has dropped 10 percent. And although program attendance figures have continued to rise over that period, circulation has dropped significantly. After reaching a peak of 69 million materials in 2011, circulation dropped 18 percent to 56 million materials in 2014. As detailed in table VIII, Mayor de Blasio’s Executive Budget does not increase funding over the next four years. The three library systems estimate that the funding level proposed for Fiscal Year 2016 will have to rise $65 million in order to reach the level of service last seen in 2008 and 2009. I. Library Program Attendance Citywide: FY2002-FY2014 Fiscal Year Total Program Attendance Total Percent Change 2002 1,664,275 2003 1,508,998 -9% 2004 1,352,330 -10% 2005 1,629,919 21% 2006 1,633,574 0% 2007 1,894,028 16% 2008 2,120,199 12% Center for an Urban Future I. Library Program Attendance Citywide: FY2002-FY2014 Fiscal Year Total Program Attendance Total Percent Change 2009 2,335,063 10% 2010 2,307,933 -1% 2011 2,426,767 5% 2012 2,588,543 7% 2013 2,447,176 -5% 2014 2,779,603 14% Center for an Urban Future Image not readable or empty /images/uploads/library-program-attendance.png II. Library Circulation Citywide: FY2002-FY2014 Fiscal Year Total Systemwide Circulation Total Percent Change 2002 43,353,000 2003 41,600,000 -4% Center for an Urban Future II. Library Circulation Citywide: FY2002-FY2014 Fiscal Year Total Systemwide Circulation Total Percent Change 2004 41,828,000 1% 2005 48,445,000 16% 2006 52,006,000 7% 2007 54,088,000 4% 2008 59,235,000 10% 2009 62,450,000 5% 2010 66,623,000 7% 2011 68,797,000 3% 2012 63,531,646 -8% 2013 60,880,350 -4% 2014 56,322,079 -7% Center for an Urban Future Image not readable or empty /images/uploads/library-circulation.png III. Program Attendance and Circulation by Borough: FY2002-FY2014 Circulation Program Attendance PA Circ FY2002 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY2002 FY2012 FY2013 FY 2014 %Change %Change 02-14 02-14 BRONX 3,090,589 4,860,377 4,477,150 4,172,435 142,377 411,317 441,420 463,165 225% 35% Center for an Urban Future III. Program Attendance and Circulation by Borough: FY2002-FY2014 Circulation Program Attendance PA Circ FY2002 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY2002 FY2012 FY2013 FY 2014 %Change %Change 02-14 02-14 BROOKLYN 11,304,059 18,690,259 16,501,362 14,577,594 567,519 755,378 596,989 691,508 22% 29% MANHATTAN 7,988,839 12,146,598 11,285,419 10,785,861 216,362 510,065 550,230 588,720 172% 35% QUEENS 15,554,882 17,238,193 15,959,847 14,756,917 453,080 684,295 652,571 770,927 70% -5% STATEN 2,279,056 2,288,290 2,133,008 2,085,438 73,861 114,342 107,482 137,835 87% -8% ISLAND Center for an Urban Future Image not readable or empty /images/uploads/library-program-attendance-increase.png Center for an Urban Future Image not readable or empty /images/uploads/library-circulation-increase.png IV. Top 50 Branches by Circulation Branch Location Borough 2014 Circulation FLUSHING Q 2,226,973 MID-MANHATTAN LIBRARY M 2,186,713 Center for an Urban Future IV. Top 50 Branches by Circulation Branch Location Borough 2014 Circulation BROOKLYN CENTRAL B 1,926,743 QUEENS CENTRAL Q 1,887,017 KINGS HIGHWAY B 1,110,905 MCKINLEY PARK B 772,039 NEW UTRECHT B 604,442 MIDWOOD B 592,052 BRONX LIBRARY CENTER BX 585,909 JACKSON HEIGHTS Q 559,445 ANDREW HEISKELL M 551,829 BAYSIDE Q 540,879 FOREST HILLS Q 540,615 TODT HILL-WESTERLEIGH SI 515,801 GLEN OAKS Q 477,261 FRESH MEADOWS Q 475,547 BOROUGH PARK B 469,029 CHATHAM SQUARE M 437,793 KENSINGTON B 429,437 SUNSET PARK B 412,211 SEWARD PARK M 405,347 KINGS BAY B 402,708 ST. AGNES M 388,533 BAY RIDGE B 388,038 JEFFERSON MARKET M 383,479 Center for an Urban Future IV. Top 50 Branches by Circulation Branch Location Borough 2014 Circulation RYDER B 379,626 MAPLETON B 374,832 HIGHLAWN B 374,824 RIVERSIDE M 361,857 MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS M 358,626 (COLUMBIA) BROOKLYN HEIGHTS B 353,816 NEW AMSTERDAM M 348,592 PARK SLOPE B 344,140 BROADWAY Q 331,146 58TH STREET M 311,124 BLOOMINGDALE M 298,969 STEINWAY Q 295,668 ULMER PARK B 289,861 HILLCREST Q 288,447 SUNNYSIDE Q 284,316 PARKCHESTER BX 283,408 BRIGHTON BEACH B 281,335 WINDSOR TERRACE B 276,860 FLATLANDS B 272,725 MCGOLDRICK Q 272,693 MUHLENBERG M 269,157 67TH STREET M 268,726 Center for an Urban Future IV. Top 50 Branches by Circulation Branch Location Borough 2014 Circulation INWOOD M 268,701 FORT WASHINGTON M 265,675 MULBERRY STREET M 265,333 V. Top 50 Branches by Program Attendance Branch Name Borough FY 2014 BRONX LIBRARY CENTER BX 65,859 QUEENS CENTRAL Q 61,948 FLUSHING Q 58,923 BROOKLYN CENTRAL B 56,219 MID-MANHATTAN LIBRARY M 45,202 RIDGEWOOD Q 42,486 LONG ISLAND CITY Q 39,777 SEWARD PARK M 38,807 RIVERSIDE M 38,093 CLASON'S POINT BX 35,951 STEINWAY Q 34,637 SHEEPSHEAD BAY B 34,196 BAY RIDGE B 31,181 CORONA Q 30,153 PARKCHESTER BX 27,602 LEONARD B 26,878 RICHMOND HILL Q 25,684 Center for an Urban Future V.