Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0Estes Park’s library logs 9.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Estes Valley Public Library District serves Estes Park’s 12,558 residents. Last year it lent 189K books, movies and e-books and logged 115K visits.
The short version on Estes Park’s library
Estes Park uses its library more than almost any town its size
Estes Valley Public Library District logs 9.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 8.3 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Estes Valley Public Library District ran 870 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 69 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 21,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans, more per resident than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 55%. What people borrow ↓
Estes Park invests in its library
Estes Valley Public Library District spends $225 per resident a year, about five times the typical $43 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.
What’s behind Estes Park’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Estes Park is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #25 of 104 in Colorado. Estes Park is graded on two of the three inputs. Estes Park’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
96 community nonprofits are registered in Estes Park
16.4 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Estes Park’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 Estes Park’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Estes Park last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Estes Valley Public Library District serves 12,558 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 60 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
45% of borrowing is digital
189K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3 times last year, on average.
84,684 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Estes Valley Public Library District, 335 East Elkhorn Avenue, Estes Park.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Estes Park? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Estes Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.8M 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 8,589 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Estes Park
Does Estes Park have a public library?
Yes. Estes Valley Public Library District, 335 East Elkhorn Avenue, serves Estes Park’s 12,558 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Estes Valley 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 Estes Park’s library?
It logged 9.2 visits and lent 15.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Estes Park’s civic life grade?
A− Estes Park is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 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 Estes Park.
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.