Photo: Lee Coursey · CC BY 2.0Boulder’s library runs 34 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Boulder Public Library District serves 133,697 people in and around Boulder from 5 locations. Last year it lent 1.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 625K visits.
Boulder’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Boulder Public Library District ran 4,495 programs last year, about 86 a week. That’s 34 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 75,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
136,080 cards for 133,697 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Boulder Public Library District logs 4.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 7.7 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 61%. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
Boulder Public Library District spends $213 per resident a year, about six times the typical $36 for a library its size. 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; Boulder Public Library District serves 133,697 people in and around Boulder, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Boulder’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Boulder is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #5 of 104 in Colorado. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #1. Boulder is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Boulder’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
912 community nonprofits are registered in Boulder
8.6 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 (150 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 62 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.9%
10.9% of Boulder’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 Boulder’s residents live; 2022.
About 29 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Boulder Public Library District serves 133,697 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 110 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Boulder Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
577,715 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
5 places to borrow in Boulder
Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder.
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 Boulder Public Library District branch.
New in Boulder? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Boulder Public Library District branches in Boulder
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boulder cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $28M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $24M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $28M 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 136,080 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder | Boulder Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | A+ |
| Gunbarrel | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Pine Brook Hill | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Niwot | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Valmont | 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.
- System-wide. Boulder Public Library District serves 133,697 people in and around Boulder, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Boulder.
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 Boulder
Does Boulder have a public library?
Yes. Boulder Public Library District, 1001 Arapahoe Avenue, serves 133,697 people in and around Boulder (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Boulder Public 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 Boulder’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 12.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Boulder’s civic life grade?
A+ Boulder is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 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 Boulder.
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.