Photo: Billy Hathorn · Public domainHomer’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Claiborne Parish Library serves 13,537 people in and around Homer. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Homer’s library
Claiborne Parish Library is used less than most libraries its size
Claiborne Parish Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Claiborne Parish Library offered 86 programs last year, 6.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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; Claiborne Parish Library serves 13,537 people in and around Homer, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Homer’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Homer is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #82 of 105 in Louisiana. Homer 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Homer
2.4 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.
5.8%
5.8% of Homer’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 Homer’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Claiborne Parish Library serves 13,537 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Claiborne Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,835 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
86 programs a year
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
Claiborne Parish Library, 909 Edgewood Drive, Homer.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Claiborne Parish Library branch.
New in Homer? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Homer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $665K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $505K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $665K 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 8,919 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Claiborne Parish Library serves 13,537 people in and around Homer, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Homer.
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 Homer
Does Homer have a public library?
Yes. Claiborne Parish Library, 909 Edgewood Drive, serves 13,537 people in and around Homer (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Claiborne 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 Homer’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Homer’s civic life grade?
D Homer is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #82 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 Homer.
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.