Photo: Dennis Adams, Federal Highway Administration; color-corrected by Howcheng. · Public domainLeadville’s library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Lake County Public Library serves 7,376 people in and around Leadville. Last year it lent 17K print books and media and logged 37K visits.
The short version on Leadville’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 74% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 28%. The building also logs about 79 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
A well-funded system
Lake County Public Library spends $121 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 56% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Lake County Public Library serves 7,376 people in and around Leadville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Leadville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Leadville is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #40 of 104 in Colorado. Leadville is graded on two of the three inputs. Leadville’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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Leadville
6.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Leadville’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 Leadville’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leadville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $891K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $375K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $891K 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 4,674 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lake County Public Library serves 7,376 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 Lake County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
17K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Lake County Public Library, 1115 Harrison Ave, Leadville.
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 Lake County Public Library branch.
New in Leadville? 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leadville | Lake County Public Library fine-free | — | 41 | B+ |
| Leadville North | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Lake County Public Library serves 7,376 people in and around Leadville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Leadville.
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 Leadville
Does Leadville have a public library?
Yes. Lake County Public Library, 1115 Harrison Ave, serves 7,376 people in and around Leadville (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake County Public Library 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 Leadville’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 2.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Leadville’s civic life grade?
B+ Leadville is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 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 Leadville.
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.