Dr. William E. Reid House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Leesville’s library runs 2.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Vernon Parish Library serves 45,819 people in and around Leesville. Last year it lent 141K books, movies and e-books and logged 97K visits.
Leesville’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
47,156 cards for 45,819 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Vernon Parish Library offered 104 programs last year, 2.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
90% of the 104 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 0 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Leesville branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Vernon Parish Library serves 45,819 people in and around Leesville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Leesville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Leesville is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #14 of 105 in Louisiana. Leesville is graded on two of the three inputs. Leesville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Leesville
4.8 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Leesville’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 Leesville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Vernon Parish Library serves 45,819 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Vernon Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
141K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
31,719 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Find it
Vernon Parish Library, 1401 Nolan Trace, Leesville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Vernon Parish Library branch.
New in Leesville? 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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leesville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 47,156 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leesville | Vernon Parish Library fine-free | — | 64 | B |
| New Llano | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Fort Johnson South | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Vernon Parish Library serves 45,819 people in and around Leesville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Leesville.
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 Leesville
Does Leesville have a public library?
Yes. Vernon Parish Library, 1401 Nolan Trace, serves 45,819 people in and around Leesville (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Vernon 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 Leesville’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Leesville’s civic life grade?
B Leesville is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Leesville.
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.