Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Thornton’s library is a branch of Rangeview Library District, which lends less per resident than 84% of systems its size
Thornton’s library is the Wright Farms, a branch of Rangeview Library District, which serves 406,718 people and lent 1.5M items last year.
What stands out about Wright Farms
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Thornton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Thornton is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #101 of 104 in Colorado. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #356. Thornton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($77K–$129K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
196 community nonprofits are registered in Thornton
1.4 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 (90 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 19 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Thornton’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 Thornton’s residents live; 2022.
57% of borrowing is digital
1.5M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
864,651 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Rangeview Library District serves 406,718 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 82 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rangeview Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 24 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.
3 places to borrow in Thornton
Wright Farms, 5877 East 120th Avenue, Thornton.
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 Rangeview Library District branch.
New in Thornton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Rangeview Library District branches in Thornton
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Thornton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $21M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $23M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $21M 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 124,554 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | College Hill Library fine-free | 5.3 | 57 | C− |
| Thornton | Wright Farms fine-free | — | 56 | D− |
| Commerce City | Commerce City Branch Library fine-free | — | 46 | D− |
| Sherrelwood | Perl Mack Branch Library fine-free | — | 46 | — unincorporated |
| Broomfield | Broomfield/Eisenhower Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | C+ |
| Northglenn | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Todd Creek | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Welby | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Federal Heights | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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.
- System-wide. Wright Farms is one branch of Rangeview Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 406,718 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 Thornton
Does Thornton have a public library?
Yes: Wright Farms, 5877 East 120th Avenue, is a branch of Rangeview Library District, which serves 406,718 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rangeview 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 Thornton’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Thornton’s civic life grade?
D− Thornton is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #101 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 Thornton.
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.