Photo: DPPed · CC BY-SA 3.0Phoenix’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Phoenix Public Library serves Phoenix’s 1,697,696 residents from 17 locations. Last year it lent 1M books, movies and e-books and logged 2.1M visits.
The short version on Phoenix’s library
Most of Phoenix’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans, more per resident than at 79% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 48%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
17 places to borrow in Phoenix
Phoenix Public Library runs 17 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Phoenix’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Phoenix is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #56 of 68 in Arizona. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #324. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Phoenix’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($61K–$102K) 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 →
4,198 community nonprofits are registered in Phoenix
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (1,243 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 242 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.5%
4.5% of Phoenix’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 Phoenix’s residents live; 2022.
52% of borrowing is digital
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,226,131 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Phoenix Public Library serves 1,697,696 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 221 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves and library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
About 112 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 Phoenix last year.
17 places to borrow in Phoenix
Burton Barr Central Library, 1221 N Central Ave, Phoenix.
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 Phoenix? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Phoenix
And 4 more in Phoenix.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Phoenix resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $51M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $169M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $51M 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 1,697,696 people it serves ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Phoenix ranks 4th of 7 for borrowing per resident. 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 |
| Tolleson | Tolleson Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 51 | C− |
| Scottsdale | Scottsdale Civic Center Library fine-free | 8.7 | 52 | C |
| Phoenix | Burton Barr Central Library fine-free | 5.9 | 58 | D |
| Peoria | Peoria Public Library System fine-free | 5.1 | 50 | D |
| Glendale | Glendale Main Library fine-free | 4.9 | 48 | D |
| Tempe | Tempe Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 60 | C− |
| Avondale | Civic Center Library fine-free | — | 38 | D− |
| Paradise Valley | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| New River | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Maricopa Colony | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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: books & media on the shelves and library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Phoenix
Does Phoenix have a public library?
Yes. Phoenix Public Library, 1221 N Central Ave, serves Phoenix’s 1,697,696 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Phoenix Public 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 Phoenix’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Phoenix’s civic life grade?
D Phoenix is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #56 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 Phoenix.
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.