Photo: Visitor7 · CC BY-SA 3.0Cottage Grove’s library lends 2.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Cottage Grove Public Library serves Cottage Grove’s 11,095 residents. Last year it lent 25K print books and media and logged 28K visits.
The short version on Cottage Grove’s library
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Cottage Grove Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Cottage Grove Public Library holds 44,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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.
What’s behind Cottage Grove’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cottage Grove is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #37 of 106 in Oregon. Cottage Grove’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
96 community nonprofits are registered in Cottage Grove
8.9 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.2%
13.2% of Cottage Grove’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 Cottage Grove’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cottage Grove Public Library serves 11,095 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
25K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
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 Cottage Grove last year.
Find it
Cottage Grove Public Library, 700 E Gibbs Ave, Cottage Grove.
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 $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cottage Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $429K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $436K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $429K 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 1,646 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.
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 Cottage Grove
Does Cottage Grove have a public library?
Yes. Cottage Grove Public Library, 700 E Gibbs Ave, serves Cottage Grove’s 11,095 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cottage Grove Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cottage Grove’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cottage Grove’s civic life grade?
A− Cottage Grove is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #37 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 Cottage Grove.
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.