Muller's Department Store · Photo: CTtcg · CC BY-SA 4.0Lake Charles’ library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Calcasieu Parish Public Library serves 206,861 people in and around Lake Charles from 3 locations. Last year it lent 1M books, movies and e-books and logged 343K visits.
What stands out about Calcasieu Parish Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lake Charles’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Charles is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #6 of 105 in Louisiana. Lake Charles is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lake Charles’ count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
368 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Charles
4.5 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 (103 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Lake Charles’ 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 Lake Charles’ 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.
3 places to borrow in Lake Charles
Calcasieu Parish Public Library, 301 West Claude Street, Lake Charles.
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 Lake Charles? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Calcasieu Parish Public Library branches in Lake Charles
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 Lake Charles 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.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Charles | Calcasieu Parish Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | B+ |
| Moss Bluff | Moss Bluff Branch fine-free | — | 65 | — unincorporated |
| Prien | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Calcasieu Parish Public Library serves 206,861 people in and around Lake Charles, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lake Charles.
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 Lake Charles
Does Lake Charles have a public library?
Yes. Calcasieu Parish Public Library, 301 West Claude Street, serves 206,861 people in and around Lake Charles (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 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 Lake Charles’ 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 Lake Charles’ civic life grade?
B+ Lake Charles is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 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 Lake Charles.
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.