Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0Enterprise’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Enterprise City Library serves Enterprise’s 2,147 residents. Last year it lent 24K print books and media and drew 8 people to its programs.
What Enterprise’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Enterprise City Library offered 2 programs last year, 0.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Enterprise City Library serves 2,147 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 40 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Enterprise Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2013. Today’s library there has 1,340 square feet. The building ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Enterprise last year. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Enterprise’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Enterprise is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Enterprise is graded on two of the three inputs. Enterprise’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Enterprise’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2020 figure, so it is left out.
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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Enterprise
27.7 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.4%
6.4% of Enterprise’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 Enterprise’s residents live; 2022.
2 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Enterprise last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Enterprise City Library serves 2,147 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.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
24K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
A National Register landmark since 2013
Enterprise City Library, 101 NE First St., Enterprise.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Enterprise? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Enterprise Public Library
Enterprise Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 30, 2013. It is significant for its architecture, politics and education at the local level. It was listed as part of Downtown Enterprise MPS.
The Enterprise Public Library, located in Enterprise, Oregon, was constructed with a $5,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation and completed in 1914. After being nominated by Oregon's State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation in June 2013, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Enterprise cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $165K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $346K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $165K 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 1,448 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Enterprise City Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2020 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- 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 Enterprise
Does Enterprise have a public library?
Yes. Enterprise City Library, 101 NE First St., serves Enterprise’s 2,147 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Enterprise City Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Enterprise’s library?
It lent 11.1 items per resident in 2024 (print) and ran 2 programs that drew 8 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Enterprise’s civic life grade?
B+ Enterprise is ahead of 74% 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 Enterprise.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.