Photo: Tamanoeconomico · CC BY-SA 4.0Marsing’s library runs 9.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Lizard Butte District serves 6,072 people in and around Marsing. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,450 visits.
What Marsing’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Lizard Butte District offered 55 programs last year, 9.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 55 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 35 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Lizard Butte District serves 6,072 people in and around Marsing, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Marsing’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Marsing is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns. Marsing is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Marsing’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Marsing
3.6 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.1%
10.1% of Marsing’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 Marsing’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lizard Butte District serves 6,072 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lizard Butte District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,659 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
55 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
Lizard Butte District, 111 3rd Ave W, Marsing.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Lizard Butte District branch.
New in Marsing? 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 $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marsing cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $110K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $278K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $110K 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 2,847 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lizard Butte District serves 6,072 people in and around Marsing, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Marsing.
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 Marsing
Does Marsing have a public library?
Yes. Lizard Butte District, 111 3rd Ave W, serves 6,072 people in and around Marsing (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lizard Butte 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 Marsing’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Marsing’s civic life grade?
B+ Marsing is ahead of 69% 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 Marsing.
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.