J. C. Robinson House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Waterloo’s library runs 113 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Agnes Robinson Waterloo Public Library serves 1,736 people in and around Waterloo. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,120 visits.
What Waterloo’s library is like
More library cards than residents
2,997 cards for 1,736 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 ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 67% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 84% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 197 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 49 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; Agnes Robinson Waterloo Public Library serves 1,736 people in and around Waterloo, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Waterloo’s civic life grade
Waterloo 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Agnes Robinson Waterloo Public Library serves 1,736 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Agnes Robinson Waterloo Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,194 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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
Agnes Robinson Waterloo Public Library, 23704 Cedar Drive, Waterloo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Agnes Robinson Waterloo Public Library branch.
New in Waterloo? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waterloo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $155K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $232K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $155K 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 2,997 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Agnes Robinson Waterloo Public Library serves 1,736 people in and around Waterloo, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Waterloo.
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 Waterloo
Does Waterloo have a public library?
Yes. Agnes Robinson Waterloo Public Library, 23704 Cedar Drive, serves 1,736 people in and around Waterloo (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Agnes Robinson Waterloo 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 Waterloo’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 8.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Waterloo’s civic life grade?
Waterloo 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 Waterloo.
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.