Gridley’s library lends 9.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Gridley Public Library District serves 2,105 people in and around Gridley. Last year it lent 19K print books and media and logged 10K visits.
What Gridley’s library is like
A small-town library
Gridley Public Library District serves 2,105 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Gridley Public Library District serves more than Gridley
The library’s service area covers 2,105 people in and around Gridley, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Gridley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gridley is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. Gridley is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Gridley’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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Gridley
3.6 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.7%
12.7% of Gridley’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Gridley’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
19K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Gridley’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Gridley Public Library District serves 2,105 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
98 programs a year
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.
Find it
Gridley Public Library District, 320 Center Street, Gridley.
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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gridley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $167K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $345K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $167K 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 665 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Gridley
Does Gridley have a public library?
Yes. Gridley Public Library District, 320 Center Street, serves 2,105 people in and around Gridley (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gridley Public Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gridley’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 9.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gridley’s civic life grade?
A− Gridley is ahead of 79% 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 Gridley.
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.