Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Lewiston’s library logs 2.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Lewiston City Public serves 35,143 people in and around Lewiston. Last year it lent 144K books, movies and e-books and logged 78K visits.
What stands out about Lewiston’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lewiston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lewiston is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #28 of 54 in Idaho. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
158 community nonprofits are registered in Lewiston
4.6 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 (33 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.0%
9.0% of Lewiston’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 Lewiston’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2018
Lewiston City Public, 411 D St., Lewiston.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lewiston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 13, 2018. It is significant for its architecture and education at the local level.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lewiston City Public serves 35,143 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 65 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
144K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
32,378 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lewiston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 10,412 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewiston | Lewiston City Public fine-free | 4.1 | 40 | B |
| Clarkston | Downtown Branch fine-free | — | 44 | B+ |
| West Clarkston-Highland | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Lewiston
Does Lewiston have a public library?
Yes. Lewiston City Public, 411 D St., serves 35,143 people in and around Lewiston (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lewiston 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 Lewiston’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lewiston’s civic life grade?
B Lewiston is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 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 Lewiston.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.