New Plymouth Congregational Church · Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 4.0New Plymouth’s library runs 135 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Armoral Tuttle Public serves 1,693 people in and around New Plymouth. Last year it lent 9,439 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,635 visits.
The short version on New Plymouth’s library
Idaho pays a big share
60% of the budget comes from the state, and 18% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 229 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Armoral Tuttle Public serves 1,693 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
Armoral Tuttle Public keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 69% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 76% 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 New Plymouth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Plymouth is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in New Plymouth
3.3 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.
11.2%
11.2% of New Plymouth’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 New Plymouth’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Armoral Tuttle Public serves 1,693 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
9,439 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,953 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
2,279 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 4 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.
Find it
Armoral Tuttle Public, 301 N Plymouth Ave, New Plymouth.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in New Plymouth? 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 $2.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Plymouth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $59K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $169K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $59K 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 408 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 New Plymouth
Does New Plymouth have a public library?
Yes. Armoral Tuttle Public, 301 N Plymouth Ave, serves 1,693 people in and around New Plymouth (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Armoral Tuttle 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 New Plymouth’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is New Plymouth’s civic life grade?
B New Plymouth 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 New Plymouth.
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.