Bonneville Dam Historic District · Photo: Eric Guinther (en:User:Marshman) · CC BY-SA 3.0Cascade Locks’ library is a branch of Hood River County Library District, which lends more per resident than 75% of systems its size
Cascade Locks’s library is the Cascade Locks Library, a branch of Hood River County Library District, which serves 24,406 people and lent 158K items last year.
What Cascade Locks’s library is like
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 75% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 76%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Cascade Locks branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Cascade Locks’s library is a branch of Hood River County Library District, so they cover the whole system (24,406 people), not just the Cascade Locks branch.
What’s behind Cascade Locks’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cascade Locks is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. Cascade Locks is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Cascade Locks
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
12.1%
12.1% of Cascade Locks’ 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 Cascade Locks’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Hood River County Library District serves 24,406 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hood River County Library District system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
158K 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
Cascade Locks Library, 300 SE Wa-Na-Pa St., Cascade Locks.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hood River County Library District branch.
New in Cascade Locks? 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 $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cascade Locks cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 10,972 cardholders ÷ 12.
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. Cascade Locks Library is one branch of Hood River County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 24,406 people it serves.
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 Cascade Locks
Does Cascade Locks have a public library?
Yes: Cascade Locks Library, 300 SE Wa-Na-Pa St., is a branch of Hood River County Library District, which serves 24,406 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hood River County Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cascade Locks’ library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 6.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cascade Locks’ civic life grade?
A Cascade Locks is ahead of 86% 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 Cascade Locks.
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.