Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Lake View’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Lake View Public Library serves Lake View’s 1,222 residents. Last year it lent 7,442 print books and media and logged 13K visits.
What Lake View’s library is like
More library cards than residents
2,077 cards for 1,222 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Lake View Public Library serves 1,222 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 38 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
People come to Lake View Public Library a lot
Lake View Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Lake View’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake View is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Lake View is graded on two of the three inputs. Lake View’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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Lake View
8.8 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.8%
3.8% of Lake View’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 Lake View’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 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lake View Public Library serves 1,222 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Books and media off the shelf
7,442 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Lake View last year.
Find it
Lake View Public Library, 202 Main St., Lake View.
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 $1.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake View cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $77K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $146K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $77K 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 2,077 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 Lake View
Does Lake View have a public library?
Yes. Lake View Public Library, 202 Main St., serves Lake View’s 1,222 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake View Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lake View’s library?
It logged 10.8 visits and lent 6.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lake View’s civic life grade?
B− Lake View is ahead of 48% 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 Lake View.
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.