Gorby Opera Theater · Photo: publichall · CC BY-SA 3.0Glenns Ferry’s library lends 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Glenns Ferry Public serves 1,311 people in and around Glenns Ferry. Last year it lent 2,956 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,212 visits.
What Glenns Ferry’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
94% of the 78 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 0 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Glenns Ferry Public serves 1,311 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Glenns Ferry Public keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Glenns Ferry Public serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 65% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 57% of similar-size libraries. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Glenns Ferry’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Glenns Ferry is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. Glenns Ferry’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Glenns Ferry
6.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.4%
7.4% of Glenns Ferry’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 Glenns Ferry’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Glenns Ferry Public serves 1,311 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2,956 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,647 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
693 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Glenns Ferry Public, 298 S Lincoln, Glenns Ferry.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Glenns Ferry? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glenns Ferry cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $50K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $65K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $50K 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 100 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Glenns Ferry
Does Glenns Ferry have a public library?
Yes. Glenns Ferry Public, 298 S Lincoln, serves 1,311 people in and around Glenns Ferry (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glenns Ferry Public 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 Glenns Ferry’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Glenns Ferry’s civic life grade?
B Glenns Ferry is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Glenns Ferry.
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.