Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Ellensburg’s library logs 4.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Ellensburg Public Library serves Ellensburg’s 20,970 residents. Last year it lent 180K books, movies and e-books and logged 93K visits.
The short version on Ellensburg’s library
Programs are almost all for children
93% of the 511 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
24,000 people came to the library’s 511 programs last year: 1.2 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
82% of Ellensburg carry a library card
17,219 cards for 20,970 people, or 82%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. 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.
What’s behind Ellensburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ellensburg is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #21 of 152 in Washington. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Ellensburg’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
185 community nonprofits are registered in Ellensburg
8.8 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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Ellensburg’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 Ellensburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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 Ellensburg last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ellensburg Public Library serves 20,970 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 82 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
180K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 56K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
68,422 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ellensburg Public Library, 209 North Ruby Street, Ellensburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ellensburg? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ellensburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 17,219 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 Ellensburg
Does Ellensburg have a public library?
Yes. Ellensburg Public Library, 209 North Ruby Street, serves Ellensburg’s 20,970 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ellensburg Public Library 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 Ellensburg’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 8.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ellensburg’s civic life grade?
A Ellensburg is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #21 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 Ellensburg.
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.