Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0Whiteriver’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Whiteriver Public Library serves 14,620 people in and around Whiteriver. Last year it logged 17K visits.
The short version on Whiteriver’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Whiteriver Public Library offered 13 programs last year, 0.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Whiteriver Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Whiteriver Public Library serves 14,620 people in and around Whiteriver, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Whiteriver’s civic life grade
Whiteriver isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Whiteriver Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Whiteriver
Whiteriver is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
4.9%
4.9% of Whiteriver’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 Whiteriver’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Whiteriver Public Library serves 14,620 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Whiteriver Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Whiteriver Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 1,543 items borrowed against 17K visits, so we leave the count out.
Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
13 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Whiteriver Public Library, 100 E Walnut St., Whiteriver.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Whiteriver Public Library branch.
New in Whiteriver? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whiteriver cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $162K.
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 2,081 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiteriver | Whiteriver Public Library fine-free | — | 36 | — unincorporated |
| Rainbow City | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Turkey Creek | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Seven Mile | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| North Fork | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Fort Apache | 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: funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Whiteriver Public Library serves 14,620 people in and around Whiteriver, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Whiteriver.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it 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 Whiteriver
Does Whiteriver have a public library?
Yes. Whiteriver Public Library, 100 E Walnut St., serves 14,620 people in and around Whiteriver (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whiteriver 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 Whiteriver’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Whiteriver’s civic life grade?
Whiteriver isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Whiteriver Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Whiteriver.
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.