Photo: Rachel Kramer · CC BY 2.0Empire’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Glen Lake Community Library serves 3,530 people in and around Empire. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Empire’s library
A system of heavy borrowers
Glen Lake Community Library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
63% of the 131 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 43 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; Glen Lake Community Library serves 3,530 people in and around Empire, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Empire’s civic life grade
Empire 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,440 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Glen Lake Community Library serves 3,530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Glen Lake Community Library system. The library’s own count.
131 programs a year
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
Glen Lake Community Library, 10115 West Front Street, Empire.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Glen Lake Community Library branch.
New in Empire? 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 $2.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Empire cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $272K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $660K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $272K 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 2,063 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Glen Lake Community Library serves 3,530 people in and around Empire, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Empire.
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 Empire
Does Empire have a public library?
Yes. Glen Lake Community Library, 10115 West Front Street, serves 3,530 people in and around Empire (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glen Lake Community 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 Empire’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Empire’s civic life grade?
Empire 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 Empire.
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.