Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Carter Lake’s library runs 165 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Carter Lake Public Library serves Carter Lake’s 3,798 residents. Last year it lent 8,382 print books and media and logged 15K visits.
What Carter Lake’s library is like
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Carter Lake Public Library ran 625 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 165 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 5,759 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 57% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Carter Lake’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Carter Lake is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #136 of 138 in Iowa. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Carter Lake’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($64K–$107K) 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 Carter Lake
1.9 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.5%
4.5% of Carter Lake’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 Carter Lake’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Carter Lake last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Carter Lake Public Library serves 3,798 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,382 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 9,897 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
Find it
Carter Lake Public Library, 1120 Willow Dr, Carter Lake.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carter Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $291K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $204K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $291K 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 1,044 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council Bluffs | Council Bluffs Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 66 | D |
| Carter Lake | Carter Lake Public Library fine-free | 2.2 | 44 | C− |
| Omaha | Millard Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Carter Lake Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Carter Lake
Does Carter Lake have a public library?
Yes. Carter Lake Public Library, 1120 Willow Dr, serves Carter Lake’s 3,798 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carter Lake Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Carter Lake’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 2.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Carter Lake’s civic life grade?
C− Carter Lake is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #136 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 Carter Lake.
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.