Photo: TJM · CC BY 2.0Chalmette’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
St. Bernard Parish Library serves 44,783 people in and around Chalmette. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
What Chalmette’s library is like
St. Bernard Parish Library is used less than most libraries its size
St. Bernard Parish Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
St. Bernard Parish Library offered 77 programs last year, 1.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
91% of the 77 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 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; St. Bernard Parish Library serves 44,783 people in and around Chalmette, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Chalmette’s civic life grade
Chalmette isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of St. Bernard Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Chalmette
Chalmette is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.2%
5.2% of Chalmette’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical Louisiana 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 Chalmette’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
St. Bernard Parish Library serves 44,783 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. Bernard Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,602 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
St. Bernard Parish Library, 2600 Palmisano Blvd., Chalmette.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. Bernard Parish Library branch.
New in Chalmette? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chalmette cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $698K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $521K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $698K 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 19,667 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chalmette | St. Bernard Parish Library fine-free | — | 49 | — unincorporated |
| New Orleans | New Orleans Public Library | — | 46 | B+ |
| Arabi | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Meraux | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. St. Bernard Parish Library serves 44,783 people in and around Chalmette, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chalmette.
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 Chalmette
Does Chalmette have a public library?
Yes. St. Bernard Parish Library, 2600 Palmisano Blvd., serves 44,783 people in and around Chalmette (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. Bernard Parish Library 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 Chalmette’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Chalmette’s civic life grade?
Chalmette isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of St. Bernard Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Chalmette.
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.