Photo: J.B. Chandler · CC BY-SA 3.0Ekalaka’s library logs 2.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ekalaka Public Library serves 1,415 people in and around Ekalaka. Last year it lent 5,000 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,961 visits.
What stands out about Ekalaka Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ekalaka’s civic life grade
Ekalaka 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ekalaka Public Library serves 1,415 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ekalaka Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
5,000 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,499 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
57 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
Ekalaka Public Library, 105 N Main St., Ekalaka.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Ekalaka Public Library branch.
New in Ekalaka? 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 $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ekalaka cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $79K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K 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 401 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ekalaka Public Library serves 1,415 people in and around Ekalaka, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ekalaka.
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 Ekalaka
Does Ekalaka have a public library?
Yes. Ekalaka Public Library, 105 N Main St., serves 1,415 people in and around Ekalaka (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ekalaka Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ekalaka’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ekalaka’s civic life grade?
Ekalaka 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 Ekalaka.
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.