Granger’s library is a branch of Yakima Valley Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 72% of systems its size
Granger’s library is the Granger Library, a branch of Yakima Valley Regional Library, which serves 251,520 people and lent 859K items last year.
What Granger’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 4,113 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 12 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% 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; Granger’s library is a branch of Yakima Valley Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (251,520 people), not just the Granger branch.
What’s behind Granger’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Granger is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #140 of 152 in Washington. Granger is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Granger’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Granger
2.7 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.0%
3.0% of Granger’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 Granger’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Yakima Valley Regional Library serves 251,520 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Yakima Valley Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
859K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
333,993 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 66 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
Granger Library, 508 Sunnyside Ave, Granger.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Yakima Valley Regional Library branch.
New in Granger? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Granger cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.1M 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 42,482 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Granger Library is one branch of Yakima Valley Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 251,520 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 Granger
Does Granger have a public library?
Yes: Granger Library, 508 Sunnyside Ave, is a branch of Yakima Valley Regional Library, which serves 251,520 people. The branch is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Yakima Valley Regional 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 Granger’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Granger’s civic life grade?
D Granger is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #140 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 Granger.
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.