Photo: Corey Coyle · CC BY 3.0Altoona’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Altoona Public Library serves Altoona’s 24,906 residents. Last year it lent 155K print books and media and logged 76K visits.
What stands out about Altoona’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Altoona’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Altoona is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #111 of 138 in Iowa. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Altoona’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
73 community nonprofits are registered in Altoona
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Altoona’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Altoona’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Altoona Public Library serves 24,906 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
155K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 58K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
About 5 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 Altoona last year.
2 places to borrow in Altoona
Altoona Public Library, 700 Eighth St. SW, Altoona.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Altoona
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Altoona cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 13,296 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Altoona ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bondurant | Bondurant Community Library fine-free | 6.3 | 61 | C+ |
| Altoona | Altoona Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 67 | B− |
| Pleasant Hill | Pleasant Hill Public Library fine-free | 5.5 | 57 | B− |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Altoona
Does Altoona have a public library?
Yes. Altoona Public Library, 700 Eighth St. SW, serves Altoona’s 24,906 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Altoona Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Altoona’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 6.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Altoona’s civic life grade?
B− Altoona is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #111 of 138 in Iowa. 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 Altoona.
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.