Photo: RifeIdeas · CC BY-SA 3.0Cedar Falls’ library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Cedar Falls Public Library serves Cedar Falls’s 46,003 residents. Last year it lent 329K print books and media and logged 178K visits.
What stands out about Cedar Falls’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Cedar Falls’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cedar Falls is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #76 of 138 in Iowa. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
195 community nonprofits are registered in Cedar Falls
4.8 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 (42 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.9%
8.9% of Cedar Falls’ 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 Cedar Falls’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cedar Falls Public Library serves 46,003 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 105 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
329K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 137K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
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 Cedar Falls last year.
Find it
Cedar Falls Public Library, 524 Main St., Cedar Falls.
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 $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cedar Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 32,169 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cedar Falls borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Cedar Falls
Does Cedar Falls have a public library?
Yes. Cedar Falls Public Library, 524 Main St., serves Cedar Falls’ 46,003 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cedar Falls Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cedar Falls’ library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 7.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Cedar Falls’ civic life grade?
B+ Cedar Falls is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 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 Cedar Falls.
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.