Photo: Aetheling · Public domainLouisville’s library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Louisville Public Library serves Louisville’s 32,106 residents. Last year it lent 1.9M books, movies and e-books and logged 217K visits.
The short version on Louisville’s library
Most of Louisville’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 75% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 25%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
More library cards than residents
37,941 cards for 32,106 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 99% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 90 items per child in Louisville last year. Kids & programs ↓
Louisville uses its library more than almost any town its size
Louisville Public Library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 83,000 items on the shelves went out about 5.7 times last year, on average. 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.
What’s behind Louisville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Louisville is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #11 of 104 in Colorado. Louisville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Louisville’s 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 →
146 community nonprofits are registered in Louisville
7.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (25 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.4%
9.4% of Louisville’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 Louisville’s residents live; 2022.
75% of borrowing is digital
1.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 83K books and other items on the shelves went out about 5.7 times last year, on average.
1,414,360 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Louisville Public Library serves 32,106 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 626 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 9 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 Louisville last year.
Find it
Louisville Public Library, 951 Spruce Street, Louisville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Louisville? 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 $14.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Louisville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 37,941 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville | Louisville Public Library | 58.8 | 58 | A |
| Lafayette | Lafayette Public Library fine-free | 13.9 | 58 | A− |
| Broomfield | Broomfield/Eisenhower Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | C+ |
| Paragon Estates | 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.
- 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 Louisville
Does Louisville have a public library?
Yes. Louisville Public Library, 951 Spruce Street, serves Louisville’s 32,106 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Louisville Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Louisville’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 58.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Louisville’s civic life grade?
A Louisville is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Louisville.
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.