Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0Littleton’s library lends 9.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Littleton/Bemis Public Library serves Littleton’s 44,451 residents. Last year it lent 489K books, movies and e-books and logged 204K visits.
Littleton’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 29 items per child in Littleton last year. Kids & programs ↓
Littleton is a town of borrowers
Littleton/Bemis Public Library lends 9.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone in Littleton has a card
38,034 cards for 44,451 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Littleton/Bemis Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 137 items go out. 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.
What’s behind Littleton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Littleton is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #39 of 104 in Colorado. Littleton’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 →
256 community nonprofits are registered in Littleton
5.7 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 (73 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 14 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Littleton’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 Littleton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Littleton/Bemis Public Library serves 44,451 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 137 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
489K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 185K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
65,022 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Littleton last year.
Find it
Littleton/Bemis Public Library, 6014 S. Datura St., Littleton.
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 Littleton? 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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Littleton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 38,034 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+ |
| Englewood | Englewood Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 60 | C+ |
| Centennial | Smoky Hill Public Library fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
| Highlands Ranch | Highlands Ranch Library fine-free | — | 70 | — unincorporated |
| Columbine | Columbine Library fine-free | — | 65 | — unincorporated |
| Denver | Denver Public Library fine-free | — | 25 | B |
| Columbine Valley | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Bow Mar | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Greenwood Village | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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.
- 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 Littleton
Does Littleton have a public library?
Yes. Littleton/Bemis Public Library, 6014 S. Datura St., serves Littleton’s 44,451 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Littleton/Bemis 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 Littleton’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Littleton’s civic life grade?
B+ Littleton is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 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 Littleton.
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.