Photo: Gordon Leggett · CC BY 4.0Quartzsite’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Quartzsite Public Library serves Quartzsite’s 2,446 residents. Last year it lent 155K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
The short version on Quartzsite’s library
More library cards than residents
9,222 cards for 2,446 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Most of Quartzsite’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 83% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 17%. What people borrow ↓
Quartzsite uses its library more than almost any town its size
Quartzsite Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Quartzsite Public Library offered 7 programs last year, 2.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Quartzsite Public Library holds 49,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Quartzsite’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Quartzsite is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Quartzsite is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Quartzsite near the top nationally; Quartzsite’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Quartzsite
12.3 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.0%
13.0% of Quartzsite’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 Quartzsite’s residents live; 2022.
83% of borrowing is digital
155K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 49K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
128,161 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Quartzsite Public Library serves 2,446 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
7 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Quartzsite Public Library, 465 N Plymouth Ave, Quartzsite.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Quartzsite? 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 $15.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Quartzsite cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $155K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $155K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 9,222 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quartzsite | Quartzsite Public Library | 63.2 | 39 | A+ |
| La Paz Valley | 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.
- 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 Quartzsite
Does Quartzsite have a public library?
Yes. Quartzsite Public Library, 465 N Plymouth Ave, serves Quartzsite’s 2,446 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Quartzsite Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Quartzsite’s library?
It logged 12.2 visits and lent 63.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Quartzsite’s civic life grade?
A+ Quartzsite is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Quartzsite.
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.