Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Burley’s library runs 56 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Burley Public serves 12,146 people in and around Burley. Last year it lent 90K books, movies and e-books and logged 51K visits.
Burley’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Burley Public keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Burley Public ran 675 programs last year, about 13 a week. That’s 56 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 12,000 attended. 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 Burley’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Burley is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #24 of 54 in Idaho. Burley’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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Burley
4.7 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Burley’s 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 Burley’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Burley Public serves 12,146 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
90K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
13,392 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Burley Public, 1300 Miller Ave, Burley.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Burley? 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Burley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $666K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $666K 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 6,417 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burley | Burley Public fine-free | 7.4 | 22 | B |
| Heyburn | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Burley
Does Burley have a public library?
Yes. Burley Public, 1300 Miller Ave, serves 12,146 people in and around Burley (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Burley Public fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Burley’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Burley’s civic life grade?
B Burley is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Burley.
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.