Pocatello Westside Residential Historic District · Photo: Eric Kjaemperud · CC BY-SA 3.0Pocatello’s library runs 9.5 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Marshall Public serves 58,832 people in and around Pocatello. Last year it lent 244K books, movies and e-books and logged 158K visits.
Pocatello’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
Pocatello Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Today’s library there has 32,680 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 560 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Marshall Public logs about 873 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 26 public computers. That’s 5.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
82% of Pocatello carry a library card
48,208 cards for 58,832 people, or 82%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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.
What’s behind Pocatello’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pocatello is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #21 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 →
239 community nonprofits are registered in Pocatello
4.2 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 (34 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.3%
11.3% of Pocatello’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 Pocatello’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Marshall Public serves 58,832 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 81 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
244K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 143K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
67,306 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
A National Register landmark since 1973
Marshall Public, 113 S Garfield, Pocatello.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pocatello? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Pocatello Carnegie Library
Pocatello Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 2, 1973. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Classical and Palladian.
The Pocatello Carnegie Library is a historic building in Pocatello, Idaho. It was built as a Carnegie library in 1907, and designed in the Palladian architectural style. According to Arthur Hart, the director of the Idaho State Historical Museum, "Pilasters are topped with stone triglyphs in the narrow frieze.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pocatello cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 48,208 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pocatello | Marshall Public | 4.2 | 58 | B+ |
| Chubbuck | Portneuf District fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
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 Pocatello
Does Pocatello have a public library?
Yes. Marshall Public, 113 S Garfield, serves 58,832 people in and around Pocatello (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marshall 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 Pocatello’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Pocatello’s civic life grade?
B+ Pocatello is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #21 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 Pocatello.
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.