Photo: No machine-readable author provided. C.Maylett assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0Gunnison’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Gunnison Civic Library serves Gunnison’s 1,873 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,468 visits.
The short version on Gunnison’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 86% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 27 items per child in Gunnison last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Gunnison Civic Library serves 1,873 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 35 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 115 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Gunnison’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gunnison is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #75 of 106 in Utah. Gunnison is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$89K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Gunnison
1.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Gunnison’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.2% in the typical Utah 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 Gunnison’s residents live; 2022.
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 Gunnison last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Gunnison Civic Library serves 1,873 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
7,608 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Gunnison Civic Library, 38 West Center Street, Gunnison.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gunnison? 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 $4.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gunnison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $91K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $376K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $91K 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 999 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 Gunnison
Does Gunnison have a public library?
Yes. Gunnison Civic Library, 38 West Center Street, serves Gunnison’s 1,873 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gunnison Civic 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 Gunnison’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 14.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gunnison’s civic life grade?
D Gunnison is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 of 106 in Utah. 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 Gunnison.
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.