Olive Jeanette · Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 3.0Lutcher’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
St. James Parish Library serves 19,110 people in and around Lutcher. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
The short version on Lutcher’s library
Well funded, but lightly used
St. James Parish Library spends $77 per resident, more than 82% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 70% of them. What your card is worth ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
St. James Parish Library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, fewer than 97% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
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; St. James Parish Library serves 19,110 people in and around Lutcher, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lutcher’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lutcher is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #34 of 105 in Louisiana. Lutcher is graded on two of the three inputs. Lutcher’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$75K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Lutcher
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.6%
5.6% of Lutcher’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 Lutcher’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
St. James Parish Library serves 19,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. James Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,369 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
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
St. James Parish Library, 1879 West Main Street, Lutcher.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. James Parish Library branch.
New in Lutcher? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lutcher cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $244K 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 12,053 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.
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. St. James Parish Library serves 19,110 people in and around Lutcher, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lutcher.
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 Lutcher
Does Lutcher have a public library?
Yes. St. James Parish Library, 1879 West Main Street, serves 19,110 people in and around Lutcher (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. James 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 Lutcher’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lutcher’s civic life grade?
C+ Lutcher is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #34 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 Lutcher.
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.