Photo: Hunter Trick (TrickHunter) · CC BY-SA 4.0Tempe’s library runs 6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Tempe Public Library serves Tempe’s 193,336 residents. Last year it lent 940K books, movies and e-books and logged 395K visits.
What stands out about Tempe’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Tempe’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Tempe is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #41 of 68 in Arizona. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #202. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Tempe’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Tempe Public Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
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 →
621 community nonprofits are registered in Tempe
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (144 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 41 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Tempe’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 Tempe’s residents live; 2022.
43% of borrowing is digital
940K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 157K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.4 times last year, on average.
408,623 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 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tempe Public Library serves 193,336 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 304 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 10 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 Tempe last year.
Find it
Tempe Public Library, 3500 S Rural Rd, Tempe.
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 Tempe? 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 $3.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tempe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.7M 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 73,305 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Tempe ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottsdale | Scottsdale Civic Center Library fine-free | 8.7 | 52 | C |
| Chandler | Downtown Library fine-free | 6.1 | 58 | C− |
| Phoenix | Burton Barr Central Library fine-free | 5.9 | 58 | D |
| Tempe | Tempe Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 60 | C− |
| Mesa | Mesa Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 58 | D |
| Guadalupe | Guadalupe Branch Library fine-free | — | 40 | D |
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 Tempe
Does Tempe have a public library?
Yes. Tempe Public Library, 3500 S Rural Rd, serves Tempe’s 193,336 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tempe 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 Tempe’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Tempe’s civic life grade?
C− Tempe is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #41 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 Tempe.
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.