Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Preston’s library lends 5.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Larsen-Sant/Franklin District serves 15,357 people in and around Preston. Last year it lent 114K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
What Preston’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 398 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 72% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. 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; Larsen-Sant/Franklin District serves 15,357 people in and around Preston, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Preston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Preston is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #44 of 54 in Idaho. Preston is graded on two of the three inputs. Preston’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Preston
5.1 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.7%
3.7% of Preston’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 Preston’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Larsen-Sant/Franklin District serves 15,357 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Larsen-Sant/Franklin District system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
114K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
22,830 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Larsen-Sant/Franklin District, 109 S 1st E, Preston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Larsen-Sant/Franklin District branch.
New in Preston? 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 $5.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Preston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $307K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $307K 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 5,149 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Larsen-Sant/Franklin District serves 15,357 people in and around Preston, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Preston.
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 Preston
Does Preston have a public library?
Yes. Larsen-Sant/Franklin District, 109 S 1st E, serves 15,357 people in and around Preston (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Larsen-Sant/Franklin 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 Preston’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Preston’s civic life grade?
C Preston is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life, #44 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 Preston.
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.