Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Prescott’s library runs 173 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Prescott Public Library serves Prescott’s 191 residents. Last year it lent 295 print books and media and logged 832 visits.
The short version on Prescott’s library
A small-town library
Prescott Public Library serves 191 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Prescott Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Programs draw a crowd
644 people came to the library’s 33 programs last year: 3.4 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Prescott Public Library logs about 5 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 9.6 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Prescott’s civic life grade
Prescott isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
33 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Prescott Public Library serves 191 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Prescott Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
295 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 4,050 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Find it
Prescott Public Library, 607 2nd St., Prescott.
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 $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prescott cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 151 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. Prescott 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 Prescott
Does Prescott have a public library?
Yes. Prescott Public Library, 607 2nd St., serves Prescott’s 191 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Prescott Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Prescott’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 1.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Prescott’s civic life grade?
Prescott isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Prescott.
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.