Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Baker City’s library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Baker County Library District serves 16,927 people in and around Baker City. Last year it lent 88K print books and media and logged 87K visits.
What Baker City’s library is like
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 184 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Baker County Library District spends $86 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Baker County Library District serves 16,927 people in and around Baker City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Baker City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Baker City is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #49 of 106 in Oregon. Baker City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Baker City’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
60 community nonprofits are registered in Baker City
5.9 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Baker City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical Oregon 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 Baker City’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Baker City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 7,154 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Baker County Library District serves 16,927 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Baker County Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
88K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
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
Baker County Library District, 2400 Resort St., Baker City.
Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Baker County Library District branch.
New in Baker City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Baker County Library District serves 16,927 people in and around Baker City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Baker City.
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 Baker City
Does Baker City have a public library?
Yes. Baker County Library District, 2400 Resort St., serves 16,927 people in and around Baker City (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Baker County Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Baker City’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 5.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Baker City’s civic life grade?
A− Baker City is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 of 106 in Oregon. 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 Baker City.
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.