Norco’s library is a branch of St. Charles Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 53% of systems its size
Norco’s library is the Norco Branch, a branch of St. Charles Parish Library, which serves 50,400 people and lent 247K items last year.
What Norco’s library is like
A well-funded system
The St. Charles Parish Library system spends $148 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
80% of the people it serves carry a library card
40,257 cards for 50,400 people, or 80%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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; Norco’s library is a branch of St. Charles Parish Library, so they cover the whole system (50,400 people), not just the Norco branch.
What’s behind Norco’s civic life grade
Norco isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary), its library is a branch of St. Charles Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of 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 →
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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
St. Charles Parish Library serves 50,400 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. Charles Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
247K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
71,663 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Norco Branch, 590 Apple Street, Norco.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. Charles Parish Library branch.
New in Norco? 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 Norco cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $7.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.5M 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 40,257 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. Norco Branch is one branch of St. Charles Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 50,400 people it serves.
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 Norco
Does Norco have a public library?
Yes: Norco Branch, 590 Apple Street, is a branch of St. Charles Parish Library, which serves 50,400 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. Charles 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 Norco’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Norco’s civic life grade?
Norco isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary), its library is a branch of St. Charles Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Norco.
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.