Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 3.0Prairieville’s library is a branch of Ascension Parish Library, which lends more per resident than 56% of systems its size
Prairieville’s library is the Galvez Branch, a branch of Ascension Parish Library, which serves 133,534 people and lent 882K items last year.
What Prairieville’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
72,000 people came to the system’s 2,204 programs last year: 0.5 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans, more per resident than at 79% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 54%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 60% of similar-size libraries. 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; Prairieville’s library is a branch of Ascension Parish Library, so they cover the whole system (133,534 people), not just the Prairieville branch.
What’s behind Prairieville’s civic life grade
Prairieville 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 Ascension 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 Prairieville
Prairieville is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
7.0%
7.0% of Prairieville’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 Prairieville’s residents live; 2022.
About 20 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 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ascension Parish Library serves 133,534 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ascension Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
46% of borrowing is digital
882K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
408,409 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Galvez Branch, 40300 Highway 42, Prairieville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ascension Parish Library branch.
New in Prairieville? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prairieville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.4M 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 96,579 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairieville | Galvez Branch | — | 54 | — unincorporated |
| St. George | Jones Creek Regional Branch | — | 70 | — too few inputs |
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. Galvez Branch is one branch of Ascension Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 133,534 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 Prairieville
Does Prairieville have a public library?
Yes: Galvez Branch, 40300 Highway 42, is a branch of Ascension Parish Library, which serves 133,534 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ascension 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 Prairieville’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Prairieville’s civic life grade?
Prairieville 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 Ascension Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Prairieville.
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.