Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0Phoenix’s library is a branch of Jackson County Library Services, which lends more per resident than 76% of systems its size
Phoenix’s library is the Phoenix Branch Library, a branch of Jackson County Library Services, which serves 222,762 people and lent 1.3M items last year.
What stands out about Phoenix Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Phoenix’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Phoenix is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #12 of 106 in Oregon. Phoenix 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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Phoenix
6.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.9%
12.9% of Phoenix’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 Phoenix’s residents live; 2022.
About 57 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Jackson County Library Services serves 222,762 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jackson County Library Services system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.3M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Find it
Phoenix Branch Library, 510 W 1st St., Phoenix.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jackson County Library Services branch.
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 $1.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Phoenix cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $16M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16M 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 105,824 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 Branch Library fine-free | — | 31 | A+ |
| Medford | Jackson County Library Services fine-free | — | 52 | A− |
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. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Phoenix Branch Library is one branch of Jackson County Library Services, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 222,762 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 Phoenix
Does Phoenix have a public library?
Yes: Phoenix Branch Library, 510 W 1st St., is a branch of Jackson County Library Services, which serves 222,762 people. The branch is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson County Library Services fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Phoenix’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 5.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Phoenix’s civic life grade?
A+ Phoenix is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #12 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 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.