Photo: Tony the Marine · CC BY-SA 3.0Florence’s library lends 2.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Viney Jones Library serves Florence’s 24,175 residents. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.
The short version on Florence’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Viney Jones Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
56% of the 576 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 188 were for children. 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 Florence’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Florence is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #42 of 68 in Arizona. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Florence’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$100K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Florence
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (15 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.
6.4%
6.4% of Florence’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 Florence’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Viney Jones Library serves 24,175 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending and funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 39K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
6,961 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Florence last year.
2 places to borrow in Florence
Viney Jones Library, 778 N Main St., Florence.
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 Florence? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Florence
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Florence cardholder borrows.
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 9,612 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coolidge | Coolidge Public Library | 3.0 | 43 | C− |
| Florence | Viney Jones Library fine-free | 2.4 | 34 | C− |
| San Tan Valley | San Tan Valley Library fine-free | — | 47 | — unincorporated |
| Blackwater | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: spending and funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Viney Jones Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Florence
Does Florence have a public library?
Yes. Viney Jones Library, 778 N Main St., serves Florence’s 24,175 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Viney Jones 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 Florence’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Florence’s civic life grade?
C− Florence is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #42 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 Florence.
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.