Starks’ library is a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which lends less per resident than 53% of systems its size
Starks’s library is the Starks Branch, a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which serves 206,861 people and lent 1M items last year.
What stands out about Starks Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Starks’ civic life grade
Starks isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Calcasieu Parish Public Library serves 206,861 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Calcasieu Parish Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
387,378 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 29 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
Starks Branch, 113 South Highway 109, Starks.
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 Calcasieu Parish Public Library branch.
New in Starks? 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 $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Starks cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M 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 48,113 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Starks Branch is one branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 206,861 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 Starks
Does Starks have a public library?
Yes: Starks Branch, 113 South Highway 109, is a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which serves 206,861 people. The branch is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calcasieu 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 Starks’ library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Starks’ civic life grade?
Starks isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Starks.
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.