Photo: User:MrX · CC BY-SA 3.0Kittitas’ library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Kittitas Public (Gilmour Memorial) Library serves Kittitas’s 1,445 residents. Last year it lent 2,753 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,281 visits.
Kittitas’s library, in brief
Kittitas Public (Gilmour Memorial) Library is used less than most libraries its size
Kittitas Public (Gilmour Memorial) Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $27 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Kittitas Public (Gilmour Memorial) Library serves 1,445 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 ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Kittitas Public (Gilmour Memorial) Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. 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 Kittitas’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Kittitas is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. Kittitas’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 Kittitas
8.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
7.5%
7.5% of Kittitas’ 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 Kittitas’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Kittitas Public (Gilmour Memorial) Library serves 1,445 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
2,753 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,115 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
25 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Kittitas last year.
Find it
Gilmour Memorial (Kittitas Public) Library, 207 N Main St., Kittitas.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Kittitas? 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 $1.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kittitas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $38K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38K 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 1,019 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 Kittitas
Does Kittitas have a public library?
Yes. Kittitas Public (Gilmour Memorial) Library, 207 N Main St., serves Kittitas’ 1,445 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kittitas Public (Gilmour Memorial) 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 Kittitas’ library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Kittitas’ civic life grade?
B− Kittitas is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Kittitas.
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.