Parker’s library is a branch of Northwest Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 72% of systems its size
Parker’s library is the Parker Public Library, a branch of Northwest Regional Library System, which serves 216,657 people and lent 453K items last year.
What stands out about Parker Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Parker’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Parker is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #220 of 273 in Florida. Parker 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.
Northwest Regional Library System spends $17 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$87K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Parker
1.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of Parker’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Parker’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Northwest Regional Library System serves 216,657 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Northwest Regional Library System
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northwest Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
453K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Parker’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 11 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.
Find it
Parker Public Library, 4710 Second Street, Parker.
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 $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Parker cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.6M 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 55,785 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker | Parker Public Library | — | 26 | D |
| Callaway | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Springfield | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Parker Public Library is one branch of Northwest Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 216,657 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 Parker
Does Parker have a public library?
Yes: Parker Public Library, 4710 Second Street, is a branch of Northwest Regional Library System, which serves 216,657 people. The branch is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northwest Regional Library System fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Parker’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Parker’s civic life grade?
D Parker is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #220 of 273 in Florida. 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 Parker.
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.