Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Soda Springs’ library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Soda Springs Public serves 3,255 people in and around Soda Springs. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
The short version on Soda Springs’s library
Soda Springs is a town of borrowers
Soda Springs Public lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Soda Springs has a card
3,159 cards for 3,255 people, or 97%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
5,561 people came to the library’s 275 programs last year: 1.7 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Soda Springs’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Soda Springs is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #14 of 54 in Idaho. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Soda Springs’ 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Soda Springs
6.3 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Soda Springs’ 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 Soda Springs’ residents live; 2022.
About 3 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Soda Springs Public serves 3,255 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Soda Springs Public, 149 S Main St., Soda Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Soda Springs? 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 Soda Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $262K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $688K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $262K 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 3,159 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Soda Springs Public counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Soda Springs
Does Soda Springs have a public library?
Yes. Soda Springs Public, 149 S Main St., serves 3,255 people in and around Soda Springs (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Soda Springs 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 Soda Springs’ library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 13.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Soda Springs’ civic life grade?
A− Soda Springs is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Soda Springs.
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.