Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin · CC BY 2.0Calgary Library lends 12.7 items per person served, more than 82% of Alberta’s town libraries
The library figures on this page are Calgary’s: Calgary Library serves all 1,285,711 people of the city, Varsity among them. Visits ran to 3.8 per person served in 2022. 2022 is the latest year in Alberta’s open library statistics, so the figures date from then.
BCivic life#85 of 474 in AlbertaBehind Varsity’s civic life grade
With a B, Varsity ranks #85 of 474 Alberta towns on civic life. All three civic life inputs exist for Varsity: library visits per resident, charities per 1,000 residents and the provincial volunteering rate.
Informal groups and mutual aid go uncounted.
Sources: provincial statistics, the CRA, Statistics Canada.
1,993 registered charities give a Calgary mailing address
There is no count for Varsity on its own: the charities are those of all of Calgary. It works out to 1.2 per 1,000 residents, where the typical Alberta town has 1.3 and Canada’s 1.4. Charities are placed by mailing address, which flatters service towns whose post office serves a region and undercounts suburbs and rural municipalities.
37.1%
Statistics Canada puts formal volunteering in Alberta at 37.1% in 2023, somewhere between 35.1% and 39.2%, for every town in the province alike; provinces range from 25.2% to 40.3%.
Statistics Canada, table 45-10-0039.
Ahead of most of Alberta’s town libraries on all 3 measures
Each figure is per person served, set against 118 town libraries in Alberta’s statistics for 2022.
Town libraries only; regional systems left out.
Some 13,450 visits on an average day
Everything counted at Calgary Library in 2022: visits, loans and cards.
The closest is 1.4 km from Varsity
Sorted by straight-line distance from the centre of Varsity.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Library locations. Public library locations are taken from OpenStreetMap and a 2020 Statistics Canada inventory, merged where both list one place.
Questions about the library and civic life in Varsity
Does Varsity have a public library?
No, but Calgary Public Library - Nose Hill in Brentwood is the nearest public library to Varsity.
How busy is Calgary Library?
People made 4,909,275 visits in person and borrowed 16,347,892 items in 2022.
Library statistics: Alberta public library statistics, 2022. Library locations: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Statistics Canada, Open Database of Cultural and Art Facilities (2020). Charities: Canada Revenue Agency, List of charities (2024), charitable organizations only.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).