Photo: Falkonry at English Wikipedia · Public domainDuson’s library is a branch of Lafayette Public Library, which lends more per resident than 73% of systems its size
Duson’s library is the Duson Branch, a branch of Lafayette Public Library, which serves 254,241 people and lent 1.7M items last year.
What stands out about Duson Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Duson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Duson is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns. Duson is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Duson
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Duson’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 Duson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lafayette Public Library serves 254,241 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 73 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lafayette Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
301,637 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 36 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
Duson Branch, 310 Avenue Au Nord, Duson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lafayette Public Library branch.
New in Duson? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Duson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 128,701 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Duson Branch is one branch of Lafayette Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 254,241 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 Duson
Does Duson have a public library?
Yes: Duson Branch, 310 Avenue Au Nord, is a branch of Lafayette Public Library, which serves 254,241 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lafayette Public 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 Duson’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Duson’s civic life grade?
C− Duson is ahead of 16% 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 Duson.
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.