Adams County Courthouse · Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Council’s library runs 5.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Council Valley District serves 2,353 people in and around Council. Last year it lent 9,379 print books and media and logged 9,704 visits.
What stands out about Council Valley District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Council’s civic life grade
Council 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Council Valley District serves 2,353 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Council Valley District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
9,379 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card.
14 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Council Valley District, 104 California Ave, Council.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Council Valley District branch.
New in Council? 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 $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Council cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $148K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 969 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.
- System-wide. Council Valley District serves 2,353 people in and around Council, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Council.
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 Council
Does Council have a public library?
Yes. Council Valley District, 104 California Ave, serves 2,353 people in and around Council (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Council Valley District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Council’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 4.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Council’s civic life grade?
Council 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 Council.
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.