Ask NOW: How many staff members does library have?

Is there a rumor you've heard you would like to track down? Is there something in the community that needs to get fixed? Mary Malahy answers some of the mysteries of life in the Elmbrook area.

How many full-timers does the Brookfield library employ?

Issue: A reader heard that the Brookfield Public Library has 33 full-time employees and asked me to look into whether this was accurate because the number seemed rather high.

Status: Kathy Tuttrup, public services manager for the library, explained to me that the library reports to the state that it has 33.75 full-time equivalents. This includes all staff members, including maintenance workers, and the number of full-time equivalents is determined by the number of 40-hour weeks worked.

Tuttrup said she doesn't think the number of Brookfield library employees is out of line for a library of its size. She pointed me to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website, which provides data on all the libraries in Wisconsin. I found that the Brookfield Public Library serves 44,232 people and is open 67 hours a week during the winter and 64 hours during the summer.

I compared Brookfield's library to Wauwatosa's and found that they are fairly similar. Wauwatosa's library, which reported 26.67 full-time equivalents, serves 45,891 people and is open 71 hours a week during the winter and 64 hours a week in the summer.

To look into other factors or to compare Brookfield's library to other libraries around the state visit dpi.wi.gov, click on the "Data" tab and select "Public Library Statistics."

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