Falls City’s library logs 8.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Falls City Public Library serves Falls City’s 964 residents. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,481 visits.
The short version on Falls City’s library
More library cards than residents
1,233 cards for 964 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
100% of the 69 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 26 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 69% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 47 items per child in Falls City last year. Kids & programs ↓
Falls City uses its library more than almost any town its size
Falls City Public Library logs 8.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Falls City Public Library serves 964 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 32 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 ↓
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 Falls City’s civic life grade
Falls City 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 →
About 1 kids’ program 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 Falls City last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Falls City Public Library serves 964 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
510 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Falls City Public Library, 206 N Irvin St., Falls City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Falls City? 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 $1.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Falls City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $153K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $160K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $153K 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 1,233 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Falls City
Does Falls City have a public library?
Yes. Falls City Public Library, 206 N Irvin St., serves Falls City’s 964 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Falls City Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Falls City’s library?
It logged 8.8 visits and lent 10.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Falls City’s civic life grade?
Falls City 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 Falls City.
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.