Photo: Jguy10218 · CC BY-SA 4.0Highlands Ranch’s library is a branch of Douglas County Libraries, which lends more per resident than 95% of systems its size
Highlands Ranch’s library is the Highlands Ranch Library, a branch of Douglas County Libraries, which serves 383,911 people and lent 5.8M items last year.
The short version on Highlands Ranch’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 63% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
The Douglas County Libraries system logs 3.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 9.8 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 ↓
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 5,882 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 42 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 70 hours a week
The Highlands Ranch branch is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Highlands Ranch’s library is a branch of Douglas County Libraries, so they cover the whole system (383,911 people), not just the Highlands Ranch branch.
What’s behind Highlands Ranch’s civic life grade
Highlands Ranch isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Douglas County Libraries, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Highlands Ranch
Highlands Ranch is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
8.3%
8.3% of Highlands Ranch’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 Highlands Ranch’s residents live; 2022.
About 92 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.
Douglas County Libraries serves 383,911 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 259 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Douglas County Libraries system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
5.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,008,559 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Highlands Ranch Library, 9292 Ridgeline Blvd, Highlands Ranch.
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 Douglas County Libraries branch.
New in Highlands Ranch? 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 $2.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Highlands Ranch cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $34M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $87M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $34M 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 172,695 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Littleton | Littleton/Bemis Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 64 | B+ |
| Highlands Ranch | Highlands Ranch Library fine-free | — | 70 | — unincorporated |
| Lone Tree | Lone Tree Library fine-free | — | 70 | C |
| Centennial | Smoky Hill Public Library fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
| Acres Green | 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. Highlands Ranch Library is one branch of Douglas County Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 383,911 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 Highlands Ranch
Does Highlands Ranch have a public library?
Yes: Highlands Ranch Library, 9292 Ridgeline Blvd, is a branch of Douglas County Libraries, which serves 383,911 people. The branch is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Douglas County Libraries 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 Highlands Ranch’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 15.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Highlands Ranch’s civic life grade?
Highlands Ranch isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Douglas County Libraries, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Highlands Ranch.
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.