Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainPierce’s library logs 7.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Pierce District serves 509 people in and around Pierce. Last year it lent 4,217 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,989 visits.
What Pierce’s library is like
More library cards than residents
567 cards for 509 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Idaho pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
Pierce District spends $114 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; Pierce District serves 509 people in and around Pierce, 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 Pierce’s civic life grade
Pierce 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pierce District system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pierce District serves 509 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,217 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
228 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
16 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Pierce District, 208 S Main St., Pierce.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pierce District branch.
New in Pierce? 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 $1.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pierce cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $58K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $67K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $58K 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 567 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pierce District serves 509 people in and around Pierce, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Pierce.
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 Pierce
Does Pierce have a public library?
Yes. Pierce District, 208 S Main St., serves 509 people in and around Pierce (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pierce 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 Pierce’s library?
It logged 7.8 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Pierce’s civic life grade?
Pierce 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 Pierce.
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.