Photo: Polka Dots and Pastries · CC BY 2.0Ponchatoula’s library is a branch of Tangipahoa Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 85% of systems its size
Ponchatoula’s library is the Ponchatoula Branch, a branch of Tangipahoa Parish Library, which serves 139,823 people and lent 279K items last year.
What stands out about Ponchatoula Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ponchatoula’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ponchatoula is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #40 of 105 in Louisiana. Ponchatoula is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Ponchatoula’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$64K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Ponchatoula
2.5 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Ponchatoula’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 Ponchatoula’s residents live; 2022.
About 15 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tangipahoa Parish Library serves 139,823 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tangipahoa Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
279K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,804 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ponchatoula Branch, 380 North Fifth Street, Ponchatoula.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tangipahoa Parish Library branch.
New in Ponchatoula? 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 $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ponchatoula cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 58,282 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponchatoula | Ponchatoula Branch | — | 58 | C+ |
| Hammond | Hammond Branch | — | 58 | A− |
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. Ponchatoula Branch is one branch of Tangipahoa Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 139,823 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 Ponchatoula
Does Ponchatoula have a public library?
Yes: Ponchatoula Branch, 380 North Fifth Street, is a branch of Tangipahoa Parish Library, which serves 139,823 people. The branch is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tangipahoa 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 Ponchatoula’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Ponchatoula’s civic life grade?
C+ Ponchatoula is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 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 Ponchatoula.
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.