Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Farmerville’s library runs 284 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Union Parish Library serves 20,617 people in and around Farmerville. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.
What Farmerville’s library is like
12 times the programs of a typical library its size
Union Parish Library ran 5,851 programs last year, about 113 a week. That’s 284 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 47,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 5,851 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 34 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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; Union Parish Library serves 20,617 people in and around Farmerville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Farmerville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Farmerville is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #10 of 105 in Louisiana. Farmerville is graded on two of the three inputs. Farmerville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Farmerville
5.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Farmerville’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 Farmerville’s residents live; 2022.
About 74 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Union Parish Library serves 20,617 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Union Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
40% of borrowing is digital
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
23,557 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Union Parish Library, 202 West Jackson Street, Farmerville.
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 Union Parish Library branch.
New in Farmerville? 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 $2.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Farmerville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $588K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $588K 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 14,018 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Union Parish Library serves 20,617 people in and around Farmerville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Farmerville.
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 Farmerville
Does Farmerville have a public library?
Yes. Union Parish Library, 202 West Jackson Street, serves 20,617 people in and around Farmerville (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Union 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 Farmerville’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Farmerville’s civic life grade?
B Farmerville is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 of 105 in Louisiana. 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 Farmerville.
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.