Saturno-Breen Truck Garden · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0College Place’s library is a branch of Walla Walla County Rural Library District, which lends less per resident than 91% of systems its size
College Place’s library is the College Place Library, a branch of Walla Walla County Rural Library District, which serves 27,610 people and lent 66K items last year.
College Place’s library, in brief
The Walla Walla County Rural Library District system is used less than most libraries its size
The Walla Walla County Rural Library District system records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
The Walla Walla County Rural Library District system spends $74 per resident, more than 81% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 92% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 62% of loans. Print still makes up 38%. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. 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; College Place’s library is a branch of Walla Walla County Rural Library District, so they cover the whole system (27,610 people), not just the College Place branch.
What’s behind College Place’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, College Place is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #141 of 152 in Washington. College Place 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 ($46K–$77K) 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in College Place
1.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of College Place’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 College Place’s residents live; 2022.
62% of borrowing is digital
66K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
40,879 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Walla Walla County Rural Library District serves 27,610 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Walla Walla County Rural Library District
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Walla Walla County Rural Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
College Place Library, 1605 SE Meadowbrook Blvd., Ste 7, College Place.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Walla Walla County Rural Library District branch.
New in College Place? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average College Place cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 4,815 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walla Walla | Walla Walla Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 48 | B− |
| College Place | College Place Library fine-free | — | 49 | D |
| Garrett | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. College Place Library is one branch of Walla Walla County Rural Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 27,610 people it serves.
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 College Place
Does College Place have a public library?
Yes: College Place Library, 1605 SE Meadowbrook Blvd., Ste 7, is a branch of Walla Walla County Rural Library District, which serves 27,610 people. The branch is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Walla Walla County Rural Library District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is College Place’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is College Place’s civic life grade?
D College Place is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #141 of 152 in Washington. 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 College Place.
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.