Photo: Aaronazzarito · CC BY-SA 4.0Garden City’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Garden City Public serves 13,297 people in and around Garden City. Last year it lent 219K books, movies and e-books and logged 142K visits.
What Garden City’s library is like
Garden City uses its library more than almost any town its size
Garden City Public logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
18,000 people came to the library’s 718 programs last year: 1.3 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 39,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.7 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 16% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Garden City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Garden City is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #7 of 54 in Idaho. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
47 community nonprofits are registered in Garden City
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.2%
13.2% of Garden City’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 Garden City’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Garden City Public serves 13,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
219K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 39K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.7 times last year, on average.
35,832 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
Find it
Garden City Public, 6015 Glenwood St., Garden City.
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 Garden City? 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 $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Garden City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 5,413 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | Garden City Public fine-free | 16.5 | 54 | A |
| Boise City | Boise Public fine-free | 10.8 | 54 | A− |
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 Garden City
Does Garden City have a public library?
Yes. Garden City Public, 6015 Glenwood St., serves 13,297 people in and around Garden City (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Garden City 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 Garden City’s library?
It logged 10.7 visits and lent 16.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Garden City’s civic life grade?
A Garden City is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 Garden City.
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.