Kaplan’s library is a branch of Vermilion Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 92% of systems its size
Kaplan’s library is the Kaplan Branch, a branch of Vermilion Parish Library, which serves 57,641 people and lent 988K items last year.
What stands out about Kaplan Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Kaplan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kaplan is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #49 of 105 in Louisiana. Kaplan is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Kaplan’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Kaplan
2.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Kaplan’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 Kaplan’s residents live; 2022.
95% of borrowing is digital
988K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
941,020 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Vermilion Parish Library serves 57,641 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 86 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Vermilion Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
About 9 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
Kaplan Branch, 815 North Cushing Avenue, Kaplan.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Vermilion Parish Library branch.
New in Kaplan? 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 $9.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kaplan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 23,837 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Kaplan Branch is one branch of Vermilion Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 57,641 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 Kaplan
Does Kaplan have a public library?
Yes: Kaplan Branch, 815 North Cushing Avenue, is a branch of Vermilion Parish Library, which serves 57,641 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Vermilion 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 Kaplan’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 17.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Kaplan’s civic life grade?
C Kaplan is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Kaplan.
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.