Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Cotton Valley’s library is a branch of Webster Parish Library, which lends more per resident than 51% of systems its size
Cotton Valley’s library is the Cotton Valley Branch, a branch of Webster Parish Library, which serves 35,184 people and lent 206K items last year.
What Cotton Valley’s library is like
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Cotton Valley branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A well-funded system
The Webster Parish Library system spends $84 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Cotton Valley’s library is a branch of Webster Parish Library, so they cover the whole system (35,184 people), not just the Cotton Valley branch.
What’s behind Cotton Valley’s civic life grade
Cotton Valley isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cotton Valley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 14,707 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Webster Parish Library serves 35,184 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Webster Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
206K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
71,219 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
Cotton Valley Branch, 21241 Hwy 371, Cotton Valley.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Webster Parish Library branch.
New in Cotton Valley? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Cotton Valley Branch is one branch of Webster Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 35,184 people it serves.
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 Cotton Valley
Does Cotton Valley have a public library?
Yes: Cotton Valley Branch, 21241 Hwy 371, is a branch of Webster Parish Library, which serves 35,184 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Webster 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 Cotton Valley’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Cotton Valley’s civic life grade?
Cotton Valley isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Cotton Valley.
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.