Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Gilbert’s library runs 5.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Gilbert Public Library serves Gilbert’s 1,770 residents. Last year it lent 9,367 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,249 visits.
What’s behind Gilbert’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gilbert is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. Gilbert’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$81K) 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.
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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Gilbert
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Gilbert’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical Minnesota 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 Gilbert’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Gilbert Public Library serves 1,770 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,367 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
3,256 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
9 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Gilbert last year.
Find it
Gilbert Public Library, 17 N Broadway, Gilbert.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gilbert? 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 $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gilbert cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $120K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $150K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $120K 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 993 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gilbert ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | Virginia Public Library fine-free | 9.6 | 33 | A− |
| Eveleth | Eveleth Public Library | 6.8 | 30 | B− |
| Gilbert | Gilbert Public Library | 5.3 | 34 | C |
| Biwabik Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fayal Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Gilbert Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Gilbert
Does Gilbert have a public library?
Yes. Gilbert Public Library, 17 N Broadway, serves Gilbert’s 1,770 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gilbert Public 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 Gilbert’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gilbert’s civic life grade?
C Gilbert is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Gilbert.
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.