Arapahoe’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Arapahoe Public Library serves Arapahoe’s 963 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,905 visits.
Arapahoe’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 48 items per child in Arapahoe last year. Kids & programs ↓
Arapahoe is a town of borrowers
Arapahoe Public Library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Arapahoe Public Library serves 963 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 29 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Programs draw a crowd
3,961 people came to the library’s 140 programs last year: 4.1 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 140 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 15 for ages 0–5. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Arapahoe’s civic life grade
Arapahoe 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 →
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Arapahoe last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Arapahoe Public Library serves 963 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
2,940 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Arapahoe Public Library, 306 Nebraska Avenue, Arapahoe.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Arapahoe? 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 $2.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arapahoe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $106K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $278K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $106K 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 740 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Arapahoe 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 Arapahoe
Does Arapahoe have a public library?
Yes. Arapahoe Public Library, 306 Nebraska Avenue, serves Arapahoe’s 963 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arapahoe 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 Arapahoe’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 17.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Arapahoe’s civic life grade?
Arapahoe 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 Arapahoe.
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.