The Library makes efforts throughout the fiscal year to gather feedback on its services and resources and how patrons use them. Quantifiable resources (e.g. size of the Library’s collection; registration of new patrons; number of visitors) and surveys of patrons’ experiences (e.g. reference; satisfaction with resources and staff) help document trends in patron use. Findings from these counts and surveys are incorporated into decision-making about service provision and resource allocation; they are reported as well to the Controller of the City and County of San Francisco, the State Library of California and the Public Library Association.
Statistics for the most recently completed fiscal year are provided on this site as soon as they are available for posting. The Library’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.
Counts
Data collected from the Chief of Branches, Chief of Main, Children & Youth Services, Exhibitions & Programs and Information Technology departments provide a snapshot of library activity over the course of a fiscal year:
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Circulation
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the number of Library-owned items that were borrowed by the public
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Collection Size
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the number of books, government documents, CDs, DVDs, phonograph records, etc. owned by SFPL
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Database Subscriptions
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the number of databases the Library subscribes to in the fiscal year
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Database Searches
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the number of times patrons used the subscription databases
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Events
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the number of author readings, lectures, classes, films & videos, branch openings, performances, reading groups, storytimes and other presentations held; the number of community/street fairs Library staff attended
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Event Attendees
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the number of people who attended Library-sponsored events or events in which the Library took part
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Newly-Registered Patrons
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the number of children, teens, adults and seniors who signed up for library cards in the fiscal year
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Total Patrons
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the number of people who hold SFPL borrower cards
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Visits
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the number of people who came into SFPL buildings