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Bank of Ville PlatteBank of Ville Platte · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0
Evangeline Parish Library

Ville Platte’s library runs 59 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size

Evangeline Parish Library serves 31,745 people in and around Ville Platte. Last year it lent 63K books, movies and e-books and logged 48K visits.

916 West Main Street, Ville Platte 70586 · about 54 hours a week
DCivic lifeAhead of 6% of U.S. towns · #94 of 105 in Louisiana. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (337) 363-1369 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
63K
2 per resident
Visits a year
48K
1.5 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
1,880
about 36 a week · 21K attended
Cardholders
74%
23,541 cards
Open
54 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

The short version on Ville Platte’s library

Four times the programs of a typical library its size

Evangeline Parish Library ran 1,880 programs last year, about 36 a week. That’s 59 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓

46% of borrowing happens on a screen

E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓

Programs lean toward adults

69% of the 1,880 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 359 were for children. Kids & programs ↓

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; Evangeline Parish Library serves 31,745 people in and around Ville Platte, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Ville Platte’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ville Platte is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #94 of 105 in Louisiana. Ville Platte is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Ville Platte’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

D
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Ville Platte’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureC−Community nonprofits2.3 per 1,000 residents · LA towns 3.0 · U.S. 3.7DVolunteering4.5% of adults 25–44 · LA towns 5.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 6%
FewerMore
Louisiana towns we grade (105)Ahead of 11%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $21K–$35K (335)Ahead of 22%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($21K–$35K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Ville Platte is small (6,172 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

14 community nonprofits are registered in Ville Platte

2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.30 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans30.42 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services40.62 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.10 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

4.5%

4.5% of Ville Platte’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 Ville Platte’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 7 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Ville Platte →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5157
Ages 6–11202
Teens70
Adults1,300
All ages151
Little ones
3

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

13K
kids’ books & media borrowed
21K
people at programs
1,880
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.5 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 77%
Borrowing per resident 1.1 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 88%
Digital borrowing 0.9 e-items · typical 1.2Lower than 60%
Kids’ borrowing 0.4 kids’ items · typical 1.7Lower than 88%
Program attendance 0.7 attendees · typical 0.3Higher than 84%
Programs offered 59.2 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Top 10%
Cardholders 74% of residents · typical 39%Higher than 88%
Spending $56 per resident · typical $40Higher than 69%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Evangeline Parish Library serves 31,745 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Evangeline Parish Library system. The library’s own count.

48K
visits
1.5 per resident
63K
loans, print + digital
2 per resident
1,880
programs & events
21K attended
24K
library cards
74% of people served
Every open hour5items borrowed
Every week403people at a program
Every day17Wi-Fi sessions
16 staff (full-time equivalent)33 public computers
What people borrow

46% of borrowing is digital

63K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

63Kloans
Books & media (adults) 33%Kids’ books & media 21%E-books, audio & streaming 46%
From your couch

29,050 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Evangeline Parish Library, 916 West Main Street, Ville Platte.

Directions(337) 363-1369
54
hours open a week
9,100
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Evangeline Parish Library branch.

New in Ville Platte? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ville Platte cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$56 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.

Local taxes 92%State 2%Gifts & other 6%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 23,541 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Evangeline Parish Library serves 31,745 people in and around Ville Platte, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ville Platte.

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 Ville Platte

Does Ville Platte have a public library?

Yes. Evangeline Parish Library, 916 West Main Street, serves 31,745 people in and around Ville Platte (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Evangeline Parish 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 Ville Platte’s library?

It logged 1.5 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Ville Platte’s civic life grade?

D Ville Platte is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #94 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 Ville Platte.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.