Palisade’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Palisade Public Library serves Palisade’s 283 residents. Last year it lent 1,271 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,219 visits.
Palisade’s library, in brief
Most of Palisade’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 85% of loans, more per resident than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 15%. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 14 hours a week
Palisade Public Library keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Palisade Public Library serves 283 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 ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Palisade Public Library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 95% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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 Palisade’s civic life grade
Palisade 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 →
85% of borrowing is digital
1,271 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,952 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
1,084 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Palisade Public Library serves 283 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
9 programs a year
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.
Find it
Palisade Public Library, 124 North Main Street, Palisade.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Palisade? 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 $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palisade cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $20K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 213 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. Palisade 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 Palisade
Does Palisade have a public library?
Yes. Palisade Public Library, 124 North Main Street, serves Palisade’s 283 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Palisade 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 Palisade’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Palisade’s civic life grade?
Palisade 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 Palisade.
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.