Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0Cave Creek’s library runs 278 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Desert Foothills Library serves Cave Creek’s 5,259 residents. Last year it lent 97K books, movies and e-books and logged 69K visits.
What Cave Creek’s library is like
More library cards than residents
7,421 cards for 5,259 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
87% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 10%. What your card is worth ↓
Cave Creek’s kids borrow the most in Arizona
Out of 40 Arizona towns with a library of their own, Cave Creek comes first for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #3 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Cave Creek uses its library more than almost any town its size
Desert Foothills Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Eight times the programs of a typical library its size
Desert Foothills Library ran 1,463 programs last year, about 28 a week. That’s 278 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 18,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Cave Creek’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cave Creek is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #8 of 68 in Arizona. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Cave Creek
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Cave Creek’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.0% in the typical Arizona town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Cave Creek’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Cave Creek last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Desert Foothills Library serves 5,259 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
97K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 53K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
14,835 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Desert Foothills Library, 38443 N School House Rd, Cave Creek.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cave Creek? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cave Creek cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 7,421 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cave Creek borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cave Creek | Desert Foothills Library fine-free | 18.5 | 52 | A |
| Scottsdale | Scottsdale Civic Center Library fine-free | 8.7 | 52 | C |
| Phoenix | Burton Barr Central Library fine-free | 5.9 | 58 | D |
| Carefree | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| New River | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Cave Creek
Does Cave Creek have a public library?
Yes. Desert Foothills Library, 38443 N School House Rd, serves Cave Creek’s 5,259 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Desert Foothills Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cave Creek’s library?
It logged 13.2 visits and lent 18.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Cave Creek’s civic life grade?
A Cave Creek is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 of 68 in Arizona. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Cave Creek.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.