Photo: BSwank · CC BY 3.0Lacombe’s library is a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 67% of systems its size
Lacombe’s library is the Lacombe Branch, a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which serves 277,615 people and lent 884K items last year.
What stands out about Lacombe Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lacombe’s civic life grade
Lacombe isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Lacombe
Lacombe is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
8.3%
8.3% of Lacombe’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 Lacombe’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.
St. Tammany Parish Library serves 277,615 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. Tammany Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
884K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
244,351 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 20 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
Lacombe Branch, 28027 Highway 190, Lacombe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. Tammany Parish Library branch.
New in Lacombe? 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 $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lacombe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 84,260 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lacombe Branch is one branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 277,615 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 Lacombe
Does Lacombe have a public library?
Yes: Lacombe Branch, 28027 Highway 190, is a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which serves 277,615 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. Tammany 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 Lacombe’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lacombe’s civic life grade?
Lacombe isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Lacombe.
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.