Photo: Flickr user: Alvin Feng from Seattle · CC BY 2.0Sandpoint’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
East Bonner County District serves 42,750 people in and around Sandpoint. Last year it lent 600K books, movies and e-books and logged 218K visits.
The short version on Sandpoint’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
East Bonner County District logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
East Bonner County District spends $82 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 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; East Bonner County District serves 42,750 people in and around Sandpoint, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sandpoint’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sandpoint is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #3 of 54 in Idaho. Sandpoint is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Sandpoint’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in Sandpoint
7.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.7%
10.7% of Sandpoint’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 Sandpoint’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
600K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
110,910 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
East Bonner County District serves 42,750 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 104 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole East Bonner County District system. The library’s own count.
About 5 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
East Bonner County District, 1407 Cedar St., Sandpoint.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every East Bonner County District branch.
New in Sandpoint? 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 $2.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sandpoint cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 25,079 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.
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.
- System-wide. East Bonner County District serves 42,750 people in and around Sandpoint, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sandpoint.
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 Sandpoint
Does Sandpoint have a public library?
Yes. East Bonner County District, 1407 Cedar St., serves 42,750 people in and around Sandpoint (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Bonner County 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 Sandpoint’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 14.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sandpoint’s civic life grade?
A Sandpoint is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Sandpoint.
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.