St. Charles Public Library, serving an area of 44,000 residents, has a collection of 210,000 books and periodicals; in addition, there are 13,800 CDs, records, cassettes and other audio materials, as well as 9,200 video items, such as DVDs and VHS tapes. Internet terminals are available for use by the general public.
Staffing consists of 50 employees, of whom 16 are fully accredited librarians, plus volunteers. Annual expenditures on the library collection total $600,000. Patrons make 340,000 visits annually, and check out materials 840,000 times. Forty-four percent of all check-outs are children's materials.
