Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainOrchard’s library runs 198 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Orchard Public Library serves Orchard’s 354 residents. Last year it lent 4,475 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,982 visits.
What Orchard’s library is like
More library cards than residents
508 cards for 354 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Orchard Public Library serves 354 residents with about one full-time staff. 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
1,541 people came to the library’s 70 programs last year: 4.4 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Orchard Public Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Orchard’s civic life grade
Orchard 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 1 kids’ program 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 Orchard 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.
Orchard Public Library serves 354 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. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4,475 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,332 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Orchard Public Library, 407 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Orchard.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Orchard? 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 $3.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orchard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $81K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 508 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Orchard
Does Orchard have a public library?
Yes. Orchard Public Library, 407 East 4th Street, Suite 200, serves Orchard’s 354 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orchard Public 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 Orchard’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 12.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Orchard’s civic life grade?
Orchard 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 Orchard.
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.