Photo: Bobjgalindo · CC BY-SA 4.0Lapwai’s library runs 46 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Prairie-River District serves 17,842 people in and around Lapwai. Last year it lent 73K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
What stands out about Prairie-River District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lapwai’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lapwai is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Lapwai is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Lapwai near the top nationally; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Lapwai
10.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: health.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
26.8%
26.8% of Lapwai’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 Lapwai’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Prairie-River District serves 17,842 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Prairie-River District
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Prairie-River District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
73K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,878 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 kids’ programs a week
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
Prairie-River District, 103 N Main St., Lapwai.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Prairie-River District branch.
New in Lapwai? 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 $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lapwai cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $758K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $758K 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 3,964 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Prairie-River District serves 17,842 people in and around Lapwai, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lapwai.
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 Lapwai
Does Lapwai have a public library?
Yes. Prairie-River District, 103 N Main St., serves 17,842 people in and around Lapwai (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Prairie-River District 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 Lapwai’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lapwai’s civic life grade?
A+ Lapwai is among the top 1% 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 Lapwai.
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.