Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Wallowa’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Wallowa Public Library serves Wallowa’s 812 residents. Last year it lent 6,207 print books and media and logged 9,191 visits.
Wallowa’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Wallowa Public Library serves 812 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Wallowa Public Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
People come to Wallowa Public Library a lot
Wallowa Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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 Wallowa’s civic life grade
Wallowa isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Wallowa Public Library serves 812 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
6,207 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
About 2 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 Wallowa last year.
Find it
Wallowa Public Library, 201 East 1st St., Wallowa.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wallowa? 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 $2.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wallowa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $115K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K 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 598 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 Wallowa
Does Wallowa have a public library?
Yes. Wallowa Public Library, 201 East 1st St., serves Wallowa’s 812 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wallowa Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wallowa’s library?
It logged 11.3 visits and lent 7.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Wallowa’s civic life grade?
Wallowa isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Wallowa.
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.