Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Colfax’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Grant Parish Library serves 22,109 people in and around Colfax. Last year it lent 98K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Colfax’s library
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Grant Parish Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, below 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
65% of the 483 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 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; Grant Parish Library serves 22,109 people in and around Colfax, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Colfax’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Colfax is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. Colfax is graded on two of the three inputs. Colfax’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($20K–$33K) it does better, ahead of 64%.
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 Colfax
4.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Colfax’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 Colfax’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Grant Parish Library serves 22,109 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Grant Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
98K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,954 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Grant Parish Library, 300 Main Street, Colfax.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Grant Parish Library branch.
New in Colfax? 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 $2.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Colfax cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $713K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $713K 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 5,578 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Grant Parish Library serves 22,109 people in and around Colfax, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Colfax.
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 Colfax
Does Colfax have a public library?
Yes. Grant Parish Library, 300 Main Street, serves 22,109 people in and around Colfax (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grant 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 Colfax’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Colfax’s civic life grade?
C Colfax is ahead of 31% 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 Colfax.
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.