The sixth of 49 notes on Chapter 20 of Give Us a Dollar and We’ll Give You Back Four (2012-13), this time on the public libraries of California Colorado.
Colorado’s 112 profiled libraries (with two others omitted) tend to be reasonably well funded, with 59 (53%) evenly distributed among the top three expenditure brackets (compared to 30% overall). Circulation is also on the high side, with slightly over half the libraries circulating at least 10 items per capita (compared to 38% overall) and only 12% of the libraries circulating fewer than 4 (compared to 21% overall). Visits per capita are distinctly on the high side, with 42% at nine or more visits per capita and 79% at five or more (compared to 20% and 54% respectively). Actually, all of the reported metrics are on the high side: 70% of the libraries had at least 0.3 program attendance per capita (54% overall) and 56% of the libraries had at least 1.7 PC uses per capita (30% overall).
Correlation between spending and circulation is good for the upper two-thirds of spending brackets, but the half-dozen libraries spending $21 to $25.99 have higher circulation than you’d expect (and also have the highest Benefit Ratio of any group). The same correlation and exception appear for program attendance.
Libraries by Legal Service Area
| LSA | Count | % | Outliers |
| <700 | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 700-1,149 | 8 | 7.1% | |
| 1,150-1,649 | 7 | 6.3% | |
| 1,650-2,249 | 7 | 6.3% | |
| 2,250-2,999 | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 3,000-3,999 | 10 | 8.9% | |
| 4,000-5,299 | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 5,300-6,799 | 9 | 8.0% | 1 |
| 6,800-8,699 | 7 | 6.3% | |
| 8,700-11,099 | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 11,100-14,099 | 7 | 6.3% | |
| 14,100-18,499 | 8 | 7.1% | |
| 18,500-24,999 | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 25,000-34,499 | 3 | 2.7% | 1 |
| 34,500-53,999 | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 54,000-104,999 | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 105,000-4.1 mill. | 12 | 10.7% |
Circulation Per Capita and Spending Per Capita
There’s a strong correlation (0.64) between circulation per capita and spending per capita.
Circulation per capita plotted against spending per capita
Circulation per capita (rounded) occurrence by spending category
