Photo: DwayneP · CC BY 3.0Independence’s library is a branch of Tangipahoa Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 85% of systems its size
Independence’s library is the Independence Branch, a branch of Tangipahoa Parish Library, which serves 139,823 people and lent 279K items last year.
What stands out about Independence Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Independence’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Independence is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns. Independence 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.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$50K) 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.
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 Independence
1.4 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Independence’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 Independence’s residents live; 2022.
About 15 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tangipahoa Parish Library serves 139,823 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tangipahoa Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
279K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,804 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Independence Branch, 290 South Pine Street, Independence.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tangipahoa Parish Library branch.
New in Independence? 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 $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Independence cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 58,282 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Independence Branch is one branch of Tangipahoa Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 139,823 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 Independence
Does Independence have a public library?
Yes: Independence Branch, 290 South Pine Street, is a branch of Tangipahoa Parish Library, which serves 139,823 people. The branch is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tangipahoa 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 Independence’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Independence’s civic life grade?
D Independence is ahead of 15% 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 Independence.
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.