Photo: Tim Fontenot · Public domainIowa’s library is a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which lends less per resident than 53% of systems its size
Iowa’s library is the Iowa Branch, a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which serves 206,861 people and lent 1M items last year.
What stands out about Iowa Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Iowa’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Iowa is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #25 of 105 in Louisiana. Iowa is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Iowa’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$75K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Iowa
2.0 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.
10.2%
10.2% of Iowa’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 Iowa’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Calcasieu Parish Public Library serves 206,861 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Calcasieu Parish Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
387,378 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 29 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
Iowa Branch, 109 South Tompson Avenue, Iowa.
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 Calcasieu Parish Public Library branch.
New in Iowa? 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 $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Iowa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M 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 48,113 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Iowa Branch is one branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 206,861 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 Iowa
Does Iowa have a public library?
Yes: Iowa Branch, 109 South Tompson Avenue, is a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which serves 206,861 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calcasieu Parish 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 Iowa’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Iowa’s civic life grade?
C+ Iowa is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 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 Iowa.
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.