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Silt, Colorado Town HallPhoto: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0
Silt Branch Library · part of Garfield County Public Library District

Silt’s library is a branch of Garfield County Public Library District, which lends more per resident than 71% of systems its size

Silt’s library is the Silt Branch Library, a branch of Garfield County Public Library District, which serves 62,722 people and lent 514K items last year.

680 Home Avenue, Silt 81652 · about 54 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 44% of U.S. towns · #60 of 104 in Colorado. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (970) 876-5500 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
514K
8.2 per resident
Visits a year
420K
6.7 per resident · Above typical (2.6)
Programs & events
2,075
about 40 a week · 44K attended
Cardholders
84%
52,422 cards
Open
54 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Silt’s library is like

Visits are the system’s strong suit

The Garfield County Public Library District system logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓

A well-funded system

The Garfield County Public Library District system spends $163 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (89%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓

84% of the people it serves carry a library card

52,422 cards for 62,722 people, or 84%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓

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; Silt’s library is a branch of Garfield County Public Library District, so they cover the whole system (62,722 people), not just the Silt branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Silt’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Silt is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #60 of 104 in Colorado. Silt is graded on two of the three inputs. Silt’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Silt’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureBCommunity nonprofits4.1 per 1,000 residents · CO towns 5.2 · U.S. 3.7C+Volunteering6.8% of adults 25–44 · CO towns 6.8% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 44%
FewerMore
Colorado towns we grade (104)Ahead of 43%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $70K–$117K (7,941)Ahead of 46%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Silt is small (3,743 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

15 community nonprofits are registered in Silt

4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.27 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services30.82 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education20.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other30.82 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

6.8%

6.8% of Silt’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 Silt’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Garfield County Public Library District system. The library’s own count.

420K
visits
6.7 per resident
514K
loans, print + digital
8.2 per resident
2,075
programs & events
44K attended
52K
library cards
84% of people served
Every open hour30items borrowed
Every week850people at a program
Every day193Wi-Fi sessions
61 staff (full-time equivalent)252 public computers
How it compares

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.

Visits per resident 6.7 visits · typical 2.6Top 10%
Borrowing per resident 6 print items · typical 3.7Higher than 71%
Digital borrowing 2.2 e-items · typical 1.2Higher than 76%
Kids’ borrowing 2.8 kids’ items · typical 1.7Higher than 72%
Program attendance 0.7 attendees · typical 0.3Higher than 86%
Programs offered 33.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Higher than 89%
Cardholders 84% of residents · typical 39%Top 10%
Spending $163 per resident · typical $40Top 10%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Garfield County Public Library District serves 62,722 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

514K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

514Kloans
Books & media (adults) 39%Kids’ books & media 35%E-books, audio & streaming 27%
From your couch

137,563 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 23 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Silt →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5681
Ages 6–11532
Teens133
Adults549
All ages180
Little ones
13.1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

178K
kids’ books & media borrowed
44K
people at programs
2,075
programs
The building

Find it

Silt Branch Library, 680 Home Avenue, Silt.

Directions(970) 876-5500
54
hours open a week
7,500
square feet
With a card

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 Garfield County Public Library District branch.

New in Silt? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Silt cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$163 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.

Local taxes 89%State 0%Gifts & other 11%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 52,422 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Silt Branch Library is one branch of Garfield County Public Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 62,722 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 Silt

Does Silt have a public library?

Yes: Silt Branch Library, 680 Home Avenue, is a branch of Garfield County Public Library District, which serves 62,722 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Garfield County Public 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 Silt’s library?

It logged 6.7 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Silt’s civic life grade?

C+ Silt is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #60 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 Silt.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.