Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans · CC BY-SA 3.0Raceland’s library is a branch of Lafourche Parish Public Library, which lends more per resident than 55% of systems its size
Raceland’s library is the Raceland Branch, a branch of Lafourche Parish Public Library, which serves 95,342 people and lent 573K items last year.
What stands out about Raceland Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Raceland’s civic life grade
Raceland 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 Lafourche Parish Public 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 Raceland
Raceland is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.9%
5.9% of Raceland’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 Raceland’s residents live; 2022.
About 95 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 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lafourche Parish Public Library serves 95,342 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lafourche Parish Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
573K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
176,170 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Raceland Branch, 177 Recreation Dr., Raceland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lafourche Parish Public Library branch.
New in Raceland? 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 $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Raceland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.5M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 57,926 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raceland | Raceland Branch fine-free | — | 36 | — unincorporated |
| Mathews | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Raceland Branch is one branch of Lafourche Parish Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 95,342 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 Raceland
Does Raceland have a public library?
Yes: Raceland Branch, 177 Recreation Dr., is a branch of Lafourche Parish Public Library, which serves 95,342 people. The branch is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lafourche Parish Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Raceland’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Raceland’s civic life grade?
Raceland 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 Lafourche Parish Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Raceland.
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.