Photo: Ashton B Crew · CC BY 3.0Preston’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Preston Public Library serves Preston’s 2,973 residents. Last year it lent 21K print books and media and logged 8,423 visits.
What stands out about Preston’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Preston’s civic life grade
Preston 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 →
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 Preston last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Preston Public Library serves 2,973 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
21K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
Find it
Preston Public Library, 1 W Gillet, Preston.
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 $3.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Preston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $94K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $335K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $94K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,549 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 Preston
Does Preston have a public library?
Yes. Preston Public Library, 1 W Gillet, serves Preston’s 2,973 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Preston Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Preston’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 7.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Preston’s civic life grade?
Preston 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 Preston.
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.