Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Shoshone’s library lends 6.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Shoshone Public serves 1,691 people in and around Shoshone. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,818 visits.
The short version on Shoshone’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 71% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Idaho pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 64% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 145 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Shoshone Public serves 1,691 people in and around Shoshone, 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 Shoshone’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Shoshone is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Shoshone’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Shoshone
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
10.8%
10.8% of Shoshone’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 Shoshone’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Shoshone Public serves 1,691 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Shoshone Public system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,612 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Shoshone Public, 211 S Rail St. W, Shoshone.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Shoshone Public branch.
New in Shoshone? 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 $2.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shoshone cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $81K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $213K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $81K 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 1,197 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Shoshone Public serves 1,691 people in and around Shoshone, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Shoshone.
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 Shoshone
Does Shoshone have a public library?
Yes. Shoshone Public, 211 S Rail St. W, serves 1,691 people in and around Shoshone (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shoshone Public 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 Shoshone’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Shoshone’s civic life grade?
B Shoshone is ahead of 61% 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 Shoshone.
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.