Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0American Falls’ library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
American Falls District serves 7,340 people in and around American Falls. Last year it lent 56K books, movies and e-books and logged 37K visits.
What stands out about American Falls District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind American Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, American Falls is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #52 of 54 in Idaho. American Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in American Falls
2.5 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of American Falls’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.7% in the typical Idaho 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 American Falls’ residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
American Falls District serves 7,340 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole American Falls District system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,577 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
American Falls District, 308 Roosevelt St., American Falls.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every American Falls District branch.
New in American Falls? The Handbook →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 American Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $509K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $961K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $509K 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 4,636 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. American Falls District serves 7,340 people in and around American Falls, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just American Falls.
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 American Falls
Does American Falls have a public library?
Yes. American Falls District, 308 Roosevelt St., serves 7,340 people in and around American Falls (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is American Falls District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is American Falls’ library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is American Falls’ civic life grade?
C− American Falls is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #52 of 54 in Idaho. 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 American Falls.
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.