Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Grace’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Grace District serves 1,926 people in and around Grace. Last year it lent 34K print books and media and logged 9,443 visits.
Grace’s library, in brief
Busy on a lean budget
Grace District spends $33 per resident, less than 76% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still borrowed from more than 81% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Grace District lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 96% 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; Grace District serves 1,926 people in and around Grace, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Grace’s civic life grade
Grace 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 →
Books and media off the shelf
34K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Grace District serves 1,926 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Grace District system. The library’s own count.
44 programs a year
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.
Find it
Grace District, 204 S Main St., Grace.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Grace District branch.
New in Grace? 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 $8.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grace cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $64K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $572K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $64K 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 949 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. Grace District serves 1,926 people in and around Grace, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Grace.
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 Grace
Does Grace have a public library?
Yes. Grace District, 204 S Main St., serves 1,926 people in and around Grace (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grace 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 Grace’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 17.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Grace’s civic life grade?
Grace 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 Grace.
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.