Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Lyons’ library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Lyons Regional Library District serves Lyons’s 4,296 residents. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
What Lyons’s library is like
Lyons uses its library more than almost any town its size
Lyons Regional Library District logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
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. That works out to about 56 items per child in Lyons last year. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
4,390 cards for 4,296 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Lyons invests in its library
Lyons Regional Library District spends $144 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Lyons Regional Library District logs about 71 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 8 public computers. That’s 6 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Lyons’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lyons is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Lyons is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Lyons near the top nationally; Lyons’ 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Lyons
11.6 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.2%
13.2% of Lyons’ 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 Lyons’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lyons Regional Library District serves 4,296 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
7,441 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Lyons last year.
Find it
Lyons Regional Library District, 451 4th Avenue, Lyons.
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 Lyons? 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 $1.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lyons cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $618K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $903K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $618K 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 4,390 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Lyons
Does Lyons have a public library?
Yes. Lyons Regional Library District, 451 4th Avenue, serves Lyons’ 4,296 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lyons Regional 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 Lyons’ library?
It logged 13.5 visits and lent 12.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lyons’ civic life grade?
A+ Lyons is among the top 1% 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 Lyons.
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.