Photo: American007 · CC BY-SA 3.0Coralville’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Coralville Public Library serves Coralville’s 25,642 residents. Last year it lent 224K print books and media and logged 330K visits.
What Coralville’s library is like
More library cards than residents
47,440 cards for 25,642 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Coralville has the most-used library in Iowa
Out of 51 Iowa towns with a library of their own, Coralville comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #5 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Coralville uses its library more than almost any town its size
Coralville Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 8.7 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
21,000 people came to the library’s 725 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Coralville last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Coralville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Coralville is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #66 of 138 in Iowa. Library visits hold the grade up; Coralville’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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Coralville
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Coralville’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 Coralville’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 80 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Coralville Public Library serves 25,642 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
224K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 109K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
About 6 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 Coralville last year.
Find it
Coralville Public Library, 1401 5th St., Coralville.
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 $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coralville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 47,440 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Coralville ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa City | Iowa City Public Library fine-free | 9.6 | 65 | A− |
| Coralville | Coralville Public Library fine-free | 8.7 | 54 | A− |
| North Liberty | North Liberty Community Library fine-free | 4.4 | 65 | B+ |
| Tiffin | Springmier Community Library fine-free | 1.0 | 38 | 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 Coralville
Does Coralville have a public library?
Yes. Coralville Public Library, 1401 5th St., serves Coralville’s 25,642 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coralville Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Coralville’s library?
It logged 12.9 visits and lent 8.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Coralville’s civic life grade?
A− Coralville is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #66 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 Coralville.
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.