Baker River Bridge · Photo: floodllama · CC BY 2.0Concrete’s library is a branch of Upper Skagit Library District, which lends more per resident than 64% of systems its size
Concrete’s library is the Upper Skagit Library, a branch of Upper Skagit Library District, which serves 5,213 people and lent 33K items last year.
What stands out about Upper Skagit Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Concrete’s civic life grade
Concrete 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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Concrete cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $655K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $554K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $655K 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 2,651 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Upper Skagit Library District serves 5,213 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Upper Skagit Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,788 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
228 programs a year
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
Upper Skagit Library, 45952 Main Street, Concrete.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Upper Skagit Library District branch.
New in Concrete? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Upper Skagit Library is one branch of Upper Skagit Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 5,213 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 Concrete
Does Concrete have a public library?
Yes: Upper Skagit Library, 45952 Main Street, is a branch of Upper Skagit Library District, which serves 5,213 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Upper Skagit 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 Concrete’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 6.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Concrete’s civic life grade?
Concrete 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 Concrete.
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.