Calmar Passenger Depot · Photo: Karen Noecker · CC BY-SA 3.0Calmar’s library logs 2.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Calmar Public Library serves Calmar’s 1,616 residents. Last year it lent 3,609 print books and media and logged 3,418 visits.
What stands out about Calmar’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Calmar’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Calmar is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. Calmar is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Calmar’s 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Calmar
14.4 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.6%
8.6% of Calmar’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 Calmar’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Calmar Public Library serves 1,616 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3,609 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
52 programs a year
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 Calmar last year.
Find it
Calmar Public Library, 101 S Washington St., Calmar.
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 $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Calmar cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $68K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K 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 1,266 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Calmar
Does Calmar have a public library?
Yes. Calmar Public Library, 101 S Washington St., serves Calmar’s 1,616 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calmar Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Calmar’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 2.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Calmar’s civic life grade?
A Calmar is ahead of 91% 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 Calmar.
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.