Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
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.
| Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library | |
|---|---|
| 39°6′18″N 84°30′48″W | |
| Location | Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, United States |
| Established | March 14, 1853 |
| Branches | 41 |
| Collection | |
| Size | 9.6 million (2022) |
| Legal deposit | Selective federal depository library |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | 17,405,202 (2021) |
| Population served | 845,303 |
| Members | 489,258 active |
| Other information | |
| Budget | US$80.5 Million |
| Director | Paula Brehm-Heeger |
| Website | http://www.chpl.org |
As of 2021, the CHPL's collection held around 9.6 million volumes, the 13th-largest overall library collection in the U.S., and the 2nd-largest public library collection in the U.S. Its electronic book holdings were nearly six million, the most of any public library in the country.
In 2019, CHPL had an annual circulation of over twenty-one million items, the second highest circulation of any public library in the country. 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). CHPL's various locations had 5,154,502 visitors in 2019.
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.