Photo: Wikilester1999 · CC BY-SA 4.0Natchitoches’ library runs 20 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Natchitoches Parish Library serves 35,982 people in and around Natchitoches. Last year it lent 111K books, movies and e-books and logged 78K visits.
What stands out about Natchitoches Parish Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Natchitoches’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Natchitoches is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #32 of 105 in Louisiana. Natchitoches is graded on two of the three inputs. Natchitoches’ 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 →
97 community nonprofits are registered in Natchitoches
5.5 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 (39 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.8%
4.8% of Natchitoches’ 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 Natchitoches’ residents live; 2022.
About 7 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Natchitoches Parish Library serves 35,982 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Natchitoches Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
111K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
40,190 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Natchitoches Parish Library, 450 Second Street, Natchitoches.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Natchitoches Parish Library branch.
New in Natchitoches? 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 Natchitoches cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 28,072 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Natchitoches Parish Library serves 35,982 people in and around Natchitoches, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Natchitoches.
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 Natchitoches
Does Natchitoches have a public library?
Yes. Natchitoches Parish Library, 450 Second Street, serves 35,982 people in and around Natchitoches (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Natchitoches 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 Natchitoches’ library?
It logged 2.2 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 Natchitoches’ civic life grade?
C+ Natchitoches is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #32 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 Natchitoches.
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.