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St. Mary's Assumption ChurchSt. Mary's Assumption Church · Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 3.0
Montez M. Juneau Branch · part of Avoyelles Parish Library

Cottonport’s library is a branch of Avoyelles Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 96% of systems its size

Cottonport’s library is the Montez M. Juneau Branch, a branch of Avoyelles Parish Library, which serves 38,373 people and lent 20K items last year.

209 Cottonport Avenue, Cottonport 71327 · about 44 hours a week
DCivic lifeAhead of 10% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
20K
0.5 per resident
Visits a year
58K
1.5 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
96
about 2 a week · 963 attended
Cardholders
36%
13,754 cards
Open
44 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Cottonport’s library is like

Below typical on every measure

Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Avoyelles Parish Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓

Few programs for a library this size

The Avoyelles Parish Library system offered 96 programs last year, 2.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. 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; Cottonport’s library is a branch of Avoyelles Parish Library, so they cover the whole system (38,373 people), not just the Cottonport branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Cottonport’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cottonport is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns. Cottonport is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Cottonport’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

D
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Cottonport’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 10%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $24K–$40K (616)Ahead of 26%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($24K–$40K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Cottonport is small (1,916 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

5 community nonprofits are registered in Cottonport

2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.38 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.38 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.38 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.59 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.22 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.22 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.22 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.38 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

4.6%

4.6% of Cottonport’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 Cottonport’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.5 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 77%
Borrowing per resident 0.5 print items · typical 3.7Bottom 10%
Digital borrowing 0.1 e-items · typical 1.2Bottom 10%
Kids’ borrowing 0.1 kids’ items · typical 1.7Bottom 10%
Program attendance 0 attendees · typical 0.3Bottom 10%
Programs offered 2.5 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Bottom 10%
Cardholders 36% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 59%
Spending $26 per resident · typical $40Lower than 71%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Avoyelles Parish Library serves 38,373 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Avoyelles Parish Library system. The library’s own count.

58K
visits
1.5 per resident
20K
loans, print + digital
0.5 per resident
96
programs & events
963 attended
14K
library cards
36% of people served
Every open hour1items borrowed
Every week19people at a program
Every day41Wi-Fi sessions
15 staff (full-time equivalent)33 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

20Kloans
Books & media (adults) 71%Kids’ books & media 17%E-books, audio & streaming 13%
From your couch

2,615 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

96 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Cottonport →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–512
Ages 6–1124
Teens14
Adults36
All ages10
Little ones
0.2

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

3,352
kids’ books & media borrowed
963
people at programs
96
programs
The building

Find it

Montez M. Juneau Branch, 209 Cottonport Avenue, Cottonport.

44
hours open a week
950
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Avoyelles Parish Library branch.

New in Cottonport? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cottonport cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$26 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.

Local taxes 84%State 7%Federal 0%Gifts & other 9%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $378K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 13,754 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Montez M. Juneau Branch is one branch of Avoyelles Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 38,373 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 Cottonport

Does Cottonport have a public library?

Yes: Montez M. Juneau Branch, 209 Cottonport Avenue, is a branch of Avoyelles Parish Library, which serves 38,373 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Avoyelles Parish Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?

It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Cottonport’s library?

It logged 1.5 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Cottonport’s civic life grade?

D Cottonport is ahead of 10% 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 Cottonport.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.