Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
The downtown main library in July 2024
Map
39°6′18″N 84°30′48″W / 39.10500°N 84.51333°W / 39.10500; -84.51333
LocationCincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, United States
EstablishedMarch 14, 1853; 171 years ago (1853-03-14)[1]
Branches41
Collection
Size9.6 million (2022)[2]
Legal depositSelective federal depository library[3]
Access and use
Circulation17,405,202 (2021)[4]
Population served845,303
Members489,258 active[4]
Other information
BudgetUS$80.5 million[5]
DirectorPaula Brehm-Heeger
Websitehttp://www.chpl.org
Anderson Branch
Avondale Branch
Hyde Park Branch
Loveland Branch
Northside Branch
Oakley Branch
Price Hill Branch

Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) is a public library system in the United States. In addition to its main library location in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, CHPL operates 40 regional and branch locations throughout Hamilton County.

As of 2021, the CHPL's collection held around 9.6 million volumes, the 13th-largest overall library collection in the U.S.,[6][7] and the 2nd-largest public library collection in the U.S.[7] Its electronic book holdings were nearly six million, the most of any public library in the country.[7]

In 2019, CHPL had an annual circulation of over twenty-one million items, the second highest circulation of any public library in the country.[4] The downtown location alone circulates over four million items annually, the most of any single library location in the country, and has an area of 542,527 square feet (50,402.4 m2).[8][9] CHPL's various locations had 5,154,502 visitors in 2019.[10]

The library first received Library Journal's highest rating of five stars in 2013, and has received the honor every year since. In 2020, it scored second in the nation among libraries with expenditures over US$30 million.[11]

  1. ^ Fleischman, John (November 2002). Free & Public: One Hundred and Fifty Years at the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County, 1853–2003. Wilmington, Ohio: Orange Frazer Press. ISBN 1-882203-91-7. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
  2. ^ "The Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County Regular Audit for the Year Ended December 31, 2022" (PDF). Cincinnati, Ohio: Ohio Auditor of State. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  3. ^ "Ohio". GPO Federal Library Directory. United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Statistics". Cincinnati, Ohio: Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  5. ^ "The Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County Facilities Master Plan Report Part I" (PDF). Cincinnati, Ohio: Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  6. ^ "The Nation's Largest Libraries: A Listing By Volumes Held". American Library Association. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "The Nation's Largest Public Libraries". American Library Association. Archived from the original on June 7, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  8. ^ "Survey: Cincinnati main library ranked busiest". Fox 19. August 1, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  9. ^ "About the Downtown Main Library Building". Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  10. ^ "Statistical Report-November 2020" (PDF). Cincinnati, Ohio: Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  11. ^ Lance, Keith Curry. "2020 Star Libraries By the Numbers | LJ Index 2020". Library Journal. Retrieved December 31, 2020.