Photo: David Wilson · CC BY 2.0New Iberia’s library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Iberia Parish Library serves 67,540 people in and around New Iberia from 2 locations. Last year it lent 116K books, movies and e-books and logged 103K visits.
New Iberia’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
66,848 cards for 67,540 people, or 99%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The New Iberia branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
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; Iberia Parish Library serves 67,540 people in and around New Iberia, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind New Iberia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Iberia is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #50 of 105 in Louisiana. New Iberia is graded on two of the three inputs. New Iberia’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 ($35K–$59K) 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 →
132 community nonprofits are registered in New Iberia
4.8 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 (27 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.
4.6%
4.6% of New Iberia’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 New Iberia’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Iberia Parish Library serves 67,540 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Iberia Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
116K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,421 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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.
2 places to borrow in New Iberia
Iberia Parish Library, 445 East Main Street, New Iberia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Iberia Parish Library branch.
New in New Iberia? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Iberia Parish Library branches in New Iberia
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Iberia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 66,848 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Iberia Parish Library serves 67,540 people in and around New Iberia, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just New Iberia.
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 New Iberia
Does New Iberia have a public library?
Yes. Iberia Parish Library, 445 East Main Street, serves 67,540 people in and around New Iberia (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Iberia 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 New Iberia’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is New Iberia’s civic life grade?
C New Iberia is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #50 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 New Iberia.
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.