Photo: Priscila Micaroni Lalli ([email protected]) · CC BY-SA 2.5Idaho Springs’ library is a branch of Clear Creek County Library District, which lends less per resident than 53% of systems its size
Idaho Springs’s library is the Idaho Springs Public Library, a branch of Clear Creek County Library District, which serves 9,153 people and lent 47K items last year.
What stands out about Idaho Springs Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Idaho Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Idaho Springs is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. Idaho Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Idaho Springs’ 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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Idaho Springs
15.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.4%
10.4% of Idaho Springs’ 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 Idaho Springs’ residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Idaho Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $985K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $985K 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 6,616 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clear Creek County Library District serves 9,153 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clear Creek County Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,008 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
Find it
Idaho Springs Public Library, 219 14th Avenue, Idaho 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 Clear Creek County Library District branch.
New in Idaho Springs? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Springs | Idaho Springs Public Library fine-free | — | 46 | A+ |
| Central | 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. Idaho Springs Public Library is one branch of Clear Creek County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 9,153 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 Idaho Springs
Does Idaho Springs have a public library?
Yes: Idaho Springs Public Library, 219 14th Avenue, is a branch of Clear Creek County Library District, which serves 9,153 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clear Creek County 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 Idaho Springs’ library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Idaho Springs’ civic life grade?
A+ Idaho Springs is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Idaho 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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.