Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0Cathlamet’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Cathlamet Public Library serves Cathlamet’s 580 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,137 visits.
Cathlamet’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,167 cards for 580 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 ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
Cathlamet Public Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Cathlamet Public Library serves 580 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 ↓
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 57%. What people borrow ↓
Cathlamet is a town of borrowers
Cathlamet Public Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. 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 Cathlamet’s civic life grade
Cathlamet 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 →
43% of borrowing is digital
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
4,904 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cathlamet Public Library serves 580 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
70 programs a year
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.
Find it
Cathlamet Public Library, 115 Columbia St., Cathlamet.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cathlamet? 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 $2.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cathlamet cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $70K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $180K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $70K 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 1,167 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathlamet | Cathlamet Public Library | 19.8 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lower Elochoman | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| East Cathlamet | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- 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 Cathlamet
Does Cathlamet have a public library?
Yes. Cathlamet Public Library, 115 Columbia St., serves Cathlamet’s 580 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cathlamet 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 Cathlamet’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 19.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cathlamet’s civic life grade?
Cathlamet 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 Cathlamet.
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.