First National Bank · Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 3.0New Roads’ library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Pointe Coupee Parish Library serves 19,845 people in and around New Roads. Last year it lent 527K books, movies and e-books and logged 79K visits.
New Roads’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
28,302 cards for 19,845 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Pointe Coupee Parish Library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
42% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 42% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 58%. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Pointe Coupee Parish Library ran 1,163 programs last year, about 22 a week. That’s 59 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 51,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Pointe Coupee Parish Library spends $102 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Pointe Coupee Parish Library serves 19,845 people in and around New Roads, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind New Roads’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Roads is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #22 of 105 in Louisiana. New Roads is graded on two of the three inputs. New Roads’ 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in New Roads
8.4 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.4%
3.4% of New Roads’ 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 Roads’ residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Pointe Coupee Parish Library serves 19,845 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 51 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pointe Coupee Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
42% of borrowing is digital
527K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
223,619 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Pointe Coupee Parish Library, 201 Claiborne Street, New Roads.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pointe Coupee Parish Library branch.
New in New Roads? 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 $5.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Roads cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 28,302 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pointe Coupee Parish Library serves 19,845 people in and around New Roads, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just New Roads.
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 Roads
Does New Roads have a public library?
Yes. Pointe Coupee Parish Library, 201 Claiborne Street, serves 19,845 people in and around New Roads (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pointe Coupee 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 New Roads’ library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 26.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is New Roads’ civic life grade?
B− New Roads is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Roads.
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.