Castle Rock’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Castle Rock Public Library serves Castle Rock’s 2,465 residents. Last year it lent 3,912 print books and media and logged 4,200 visits.
What Castle Rock’s library is like
Castle Rock Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Castle Rock Public Library records 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $1 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Castle Rock Public Library offered 8 programs last year, 3.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 17 hours a week
Castle Rock Public Library keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Castle Rock Public Library serves 2,465 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 ↓
Runs on less money than most
Castle Rock Public Library spends $1 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
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 Castle Rock’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Castle Rock is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Castle Rock
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of Castle Rock’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.7% in the typical Washington 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 Castle Rock’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Castle Rock Public Library serves 2,465 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3,912 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Castle Rock’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
8 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Castle Rock Public Library, 137 Cowlitz St. W., Castle Rock.
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 $31.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Castle Rock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $2,170.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $69K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2,170 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 1,511 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Castle Rock Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Castle Rock
Does Castle Rock have a public library?
Yes. Castle Rock Public Library, 137 Cowlitz St. W., serves Castle Rock’s 2,465 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Castle Rock 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 Castle Rock’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Castle Rock’s civic life grade?
B− Castle Rock is ahead of 49% 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 Castle Rock.
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.