Jonesville’s library is a branch of Catahoula Parish Library, which lends more per resident than 77% of systems its size
Jonesville’s library is the Jonesville Branch, a branch of Catahoula Parish Library, which serves 8,280 people and lent 54K items last year.
What stands out about Jonesville Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Jonesville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jonesville is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns. Jonesville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Jonesville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$55K) 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 Jonesville
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
4.5%
4.5% of Jonesville’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 Jonesville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Catahoula Parish Library serves 8,280 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Catahoula Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
571 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
96 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Jonesville Branch, 205 Pond Street, Jonesville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Catahoula Parish Library branch.
New in Jonesville? 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 $2.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jonesville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $442K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $906K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $442K 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 2,109 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Jonesville Branch is one branch of Catahoula Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 8,280 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 Jonesville
Does Jonesville have a public library?
Yes: Jonesville Branch, 205 Pond Street, is a branch of Catahoula Parish Library, which serves 8,280 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Catahoula 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 Jonesville’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Jonesville’s civic life grade?
D Jonesville is ahead of 5% 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 Jonesville.
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.