AFPL Libraries Ranked by Cost per Circulation

How much "bang for their buck" are taxpayers getting at each of the library's service points? In an ideally-managed library system, the sizes and facility type designations of library facilities, their geographical locations, and their materials budgets would be manipulated until the cost of circulating an item was identical at all facilities--or at least at all facilities of the same type (at all Regional Libraries, for example). As the following ranking of cost per circulation by facility shows, this is far from the case in Fulton County.

In the following chart, library facilities are ranked by how cheap--or expensive!--it is for a branch to lend an item to a library user. The circulation figures shown do not include totals for "in-house use" of library materials, as library staff know for a fact that the reliability of in-house circ statistics varies from branch to branch.



Rank

Facility



Facility Type

2003 Materials Budget		 Total
Circ
for 2002		 Cost
per
Circ
1 Northeast Regional $159,429 635,895 $0.25
2 Alpharetta Area $78,208 258,599 $0.30
3 Roswell Regional $169,407 432,057 $0.39
4 Buckhead Area $78,208 155,312 $0.507
5 Sandy Springs Regional $133,049 260,698 $0.510
6 Ponce de Leon Area $75,258 142,439 $0.53
7 Northside Area $75,832 128,393 $0.59
8 Peachtree Community $40,246 54,684 $0.74
9 Southwest Regional $147,396 169,263 $0.87
10 Fairburn Community $37,751 41,925 $0.90
11 Adams Park Community $37,767 38,097 $0.99
12 Stewart-Lakewood Community $42,094 41,319 $1.02
13 East Point Area $82,429 79,760 $1.03
14 College Park Community $38,973 36,799 $1.06
15 Cleveland Community $34,669 26,613 $1.302
16 Kirkwood Community $40,806 31,302 $1.303
17 South Fulton Regional $128,864 97,174 $1.33
18 Adamsville/Collier Heights Community $33,116 23,516 $1.41
19 Washington Park Community $46,552 31,440 $1.48
20 Hapeville Neighborhood $33,440 22,193 $1.51
21 West End Community $49,935 32,589 $1.53
22 East Atlanta Neighborhood $35,503 21,710 $1.64
23 Bookmobile Systemwide $43,365 22,499 $1.92
24 Georgia-Hill Neighborhood $31,871 14,619 $2.18
25 Dogwood Community $38,156 16,993 $2.25
26 Martin Luther King, Jr. Neighborhood $26,766 11,080 $2.42
27 Central Systemwide $441,821 162,682 $2.72
28 Bowen Homes Neighborhood $41,524 15,164 $2.74
29 Mechanicsville Neighborhood $31,311 10,067 $3.11
30 Bankhead Courts Neighborhood $36,380 11,632 $3.12
31 Perry Homes Neighborhood $45,494 10,501 $4.33
32 Thomasville Heights Neighborhood $42,897 9,195 $4.67
Systemwide Totals $3,389,674 3,054,633 $1.10

If you'd like to comment on this ranking, email your comments to the webmaster. The most interesting observations will be posted to the web site under the pseudonuym of your choice.
     

  • AFPL Libraries Ranked by Size of Service Population

         

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  • AFPL Libraries Ranked by Size of Collection

         

  • AFPL Libraries Ranked by Turnover Rate

         

  • AFPL Libraries Ranked by Age

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