Phoenix’s library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Phoenix Public Library serves Phoenix’s 2,226 residents. Last year it lent 21K print books and media and logged 19K visits.
The short version on Phoenix’s library
More library cards than residents
3,134 cards for 2,226 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 ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in Phoenix last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Phoenix Public Library serves 2,226 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 38 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 ↓
Phoenix uses its library more than almost any town its size
Phoenix Public Library logs 8.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 9.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
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 Phoenix’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Phoenix is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Phoenix
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Phoenix’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Phoenix’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Phoenix last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Phoenix Public Library serves 2,226 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
21K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Phoenix Public Library, 34 Elm Street, Phoenix.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Phoenix? 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 $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Phoenix cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $158K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $351K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $158K 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 3,134 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | Phoenix Public Library fine-free | 9.6 | 38 | B+ |
| Schroeppel | Phoenix Public Library fine-free | 9.6 | 38 | C− |
| Lysander | Baldwinsville Public Library fine-free | — | 59 | C+ |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Phoenix
Does Phoenix have a public library?
Yes. Phoenix Public Library, 34 Elm Street, serves Phoenix’s 2,226 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Phoenix 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 Phoenix’s library?
It logged 8.3 visits and lent 9.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Phoenix’s civic life grade?
B+ Phoenix is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Phoenix.
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.