Manzanar War Relocation Center, National Historic Site · Photo: Dorothea Lange · Public domainIndependence’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Inyo County Free Library serves 18,856 people in and around Independence. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
What’s behind Independence’s civic life grade
Independence isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Inyo County Free Library serves 18,856 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Inyo County Free Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Inyo County Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. 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
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,298 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
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
Inyo County Free Library, 168 N. Edwards St., Independence.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Inyo County Free Library branch.
New in Independence? 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 Independence cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $841K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $571K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $841K 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 5,591 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Inyo County Free Library serves 18,856 people in and around Independence, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Independence.
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 Independence
Does Independence have a public library?
Yes. Inyo County Free Library, 168 N. Edwards St., serves 18,856 people in and around Independence (the survey’s count).
Is Inyo County Free 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 Independence’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Independence’s civic life grade?
Independence isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Independence.
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.