Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Priest River’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
West Bonner District serves 9,130 people in and around Priest River. Last year it lent 64K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
What stands out about West Bonner District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Priest River’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Priest River is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. Priest River is graded on two of the three inputs. Priest River’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Priest River
6.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Priest River’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 Priest River’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
West Bonner District serves 9,130 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole West Bonner District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
64K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,671 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
West Bonner District, 118 Main St., Priest River.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every West Bonner District branch.
New in Priest River? 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 $3.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Priest River cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $520K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $520K 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 2,425 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. West Bonner District serves 9,130 people in and around Priest River, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Priest River.
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 Priest River
Does Priest River have a public library?
Yes. West Bonner District, 118 Main St., serves 9,130 people in and around Priest River (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is West Bonner 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 Priest River’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Priest River’s civic life grade?
B Priest River 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 Priest River.
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.