Laura Plantation · Photo: ZeWrestler · CC BY-SA 3.0North Vacherie’s library is a branch of St. James Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 97% of systems its size
North Vacherie’s library is the Vacherie Library, a branch of St. James Parish Library, which serves 19,110 people and lent 13K items last year.
The short version on North Vacherie’s library
Well funded, but lightly used
The St. James Parish Library system 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
The St. James Parish Library system 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; North Vacherie’s library is a branch of St. James Parish Library, so they cover the whole system (19,110 people), not just the North Vacherie branch.
What’s behind North Vacherie’s civic life grade
North Vacherie isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of St. James Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in North Vacherie
North Vacherie is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
7.0%
7.0% of North Vacherie’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 North Vacherie’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
Vacherie Library, 2593 Hwy. 20, Vacherie.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. James Parish Library branch.
New in North Vacherie? 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 North Vacherie 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. Vacherie Library is one branch of St. James Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 19,110 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 North Vacherie
Does North Vacherie have a public library?
Yes: Vacherie Library, 2593 Hwy. 20, is a branch of St. James Parish Library, which serves 19,110 people. The branch is open about 48 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 North Vacherie’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 North Vacherie’s civic life grade?
North Vacherie isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of St. James Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in North Vacherie.
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.