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Bennett Branch Library · part of Rangeview Library District

Bennett’s library is a branch of Rangeview Library District, which lends less per resident than 84% of systems its size

Bennett’s library is the Bennett Branch Library, a branch of Rangeview Library District, which serves 406,718 people and lent 1.5M items last year.

495 7th Street, Bennett 80102 · about 46 hours a week
CCivic lifeAhead of 32% of U.S. towns · #72 of 104 in Colorado. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
1.5M
3.7 per resident
Visits a year
747K
1.8 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
2,899
about 56 a week · 53K attended
Cardholders
31%
124,554 cards
Open
46 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Bennett Branch Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Bennett’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bennett is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #72 of 104 in Colorado. Bennett is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Bennett’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

C
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Bennett’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 32%
FewerMore
Colorado towns we grade (104)Ahead of 31%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $81K–$135K (6,112)Ahead of 34%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($81K–$135K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Bennett is small (4,224 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

13 community nonprofits are registered in Bennett

3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.60 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services20.60 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.35 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.60 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other30.85 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

6.4%

6.4% of Bennett’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado 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 Bennett’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · What people borrow

57% of borrowing is digital

1.5M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

1.5Mloans
Books & media (adults) 20%Kids’ books & media 23%E-books, audio & streaming 57%
From your couch

864,651 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.8 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 60%
Borrowing per resident 1.6 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 84%
Digital borrowing 2.1 e-items · typical 1.4Higher than 66%
Kids’ borrowing 0.9 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 78%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 79%
Programs offered 7.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 65%
Cardholders 31% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 71%
Spending $52 per resident · typical $36Higher than 69%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Rangeview Library District serves 406,718 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 82 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rangeview Library District system. The library’s own count.

747K
visits
1.8 per resident
1.5M
loans, print + digital
3.7 per resident
2,899
programs & events
53K attended
125K
library cards
31% of people served
Every open hour82items borrowed
Every week1,026people at a program
Every day586Wi-Fi sessions
128 staff (full-time equivalent)330 public computers
Kids & programs

About 24 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Bennett →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5630
Ages 6–11643
Teens501
Adults732
All ages393
Little ones
12.1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

349K
kids’ books & media borrowed
53K
people at programs
2,899
programs
The building

Find it

Bennett Branch Library, 495 7th Street, Bennett.

46
hours open a week
7,500
square feet
With a card

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 Rangeview Library District branch.

New in Bennett? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.11 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bennett cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
1
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$384
a year at retail prices · $32 a month

Who pays for it
$52 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $21M.

Local taxes 99%State 1%Gifts & other 1%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $23M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $21M 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 124,554 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Bennett Branch Library is one branch of Rangeview Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 406,718 people it serves.

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 Bennett

Does Bennett have a public library?

Yes: Bennett Branch Library, 495 7th Street, is a branch of Rangeview Library District, which serves 406,718 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Rangeview Library District 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 Bennett’s library?

It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Bennett’s civic life grade?

C Bennett is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #72 of 104 in Colorado. 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 Bennett.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.