Photo: Steve Shook · CC BY 2.0Plummer’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Plummer Public serves 1,009 people in and around Plummer. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,795 visits.
What Plummer’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Plummer Public logs 9.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
1,088 cards for 1,009 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 ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 31% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 75%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 76 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. One was for children. 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; Plummer Public serves 1,009 people in and around Plummer, 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 Plummer’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Plummer is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Plummer
6.0 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.6%
8.6% of Plummer’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 Plummer’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,021 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Plummer Public serves 1,009 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Plummer Public system. The library’s own count.
76 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
Plummer Public, 849 D St., Plummer.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Plummer Public branch.
New in Plummer? 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 $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plummer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $141K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $335K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $141K 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 1,088 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Plummer Public serves 1,009 people in and around Plummer, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Plummer.
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 Plummer
Does Plummer have a public library?
Yes. Plummer Public, 849 D St., serves 1,009 people in and around Plummer (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plummer 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 Plummer’s library?
It logged 9.7 visits and lent 20.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Plummer’s civic life grade?
A Plummer is ahead of 90% 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 Plummer.
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.