Wright County Courthouse · Photo: Ann Sullivan-Larson · CC BY-SA 3.0Clarion’s library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Clarion Public Library serves Clarion’s 3,385 residents. Last year it lent 8,385 print books and media and logged 23K visits.
What Clarion’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 85% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 30%. The building also logs about 5 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Clarion Public Library holds 22,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Clarion’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Clarion is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #46 of 138 in Iowa. Clarion’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Clarion
8.3 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Clarion’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 Clarion’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clarion Public Library serves 3,385 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Books and media off the shelf
8,385 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
81 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 Clarion last year.
Find it
Clarion Public Library, 302 N Main, Clarion.
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 Clarion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $171K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $141K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $171K 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 695 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Clarion 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 Clarion
Does Clarion have a public library?
Yes. Clarion Public Library, 302 N Main, serves Clarion’s 3,385 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clarion Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Clarion’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 2.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Clarion’s civic life grade?
A− Clarion is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #46 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 Clarion.
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.