Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Colorado Springs’ library is a branch of Pikes Peak Library District, which lends more per resident than 73% of systems its size
Colorado Springs’s library is the Penrose Public Library, a branch of Pikes Peak Library District, which serves 678,684 people and lent 7.2M items last year.
The short version on Colorado Springs’s library
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans, more per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Colorado Springs Public Library-Carnegie Building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996. Today’s library there has 90,819 square feet. The buildings ↓
Eight branches in Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs has eight branches of the Pikes Peak Library District, which serves 678,684 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
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; Colorado Springs’s library is a branch of Pikes Peak Library District, so they cover the whole system (678,684 people), not just the Colorado Springs branch.
What’s behind Colorado Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Colorado Springs is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #80 of 104 in Colorado State. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #203. Colorado Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Colorado Springs’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($64K–$106K) 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.
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 →
1,399 community nonprofits are registered in Colorado Springs
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (556 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 156 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Colorado Springs’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado State 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 Colorado Springs’ residents live; 2022.
50% of borrowing is digital
7.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,556,552 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pikes Peak Library District serves 678,684 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 179 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pikes Peak Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 47 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.
A National Register landmark since 1996
Penrose Public Library, 20 North Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs.
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 Pikes Peak Library District branch.
New in Colorado Springs? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Colorado Springs Public Library-Carnegie Building
Colorado Springs Public Library-Carnegie Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 1, 1996. It is significant for its architecture, town planning and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Colorado Springs Public Library–Carnegie Building is a Neo-classical library building in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Funded by the Andrew Carnegie Library Fund. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is associated with the City Beautiful movement.
More about the building →Other Pikes Peak Library District branches in Colorado Springs
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Colorado Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $33M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $108M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $33M 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 305,812 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Springs | Penrose Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | C− |
| Security-Widefield | Security Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | — unincorporated |
| Manitou Springs | Manitou Springs Library fine-free | — | 48 | A+ |
| Fountain | Fountain Library fine-free | — | 56 | D |
| Stratmoor | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Black Forest | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Gleneagle | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Penrose Public Library is one branch of Pikes Peak Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 678,684 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 Colorado Springs
Does Colorado Springs have a public library?
Yes: Penrose Public Library, 20 North Cascade Avenue, is a branch of Pikes Peak Library District, which serves 678,684 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pikes Peak 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 Colorado Springs’ library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Colorado Springs’ civic life grade?
C− Colorado Springs is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #80 of 104 in Colorado State. 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 Colorado Springs.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.