Photo: Kathy Calm · CC BY 3.0Lacey’s library is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 69% of systems its size
Lacey’s library is the Hawks Prairie Timberland Library, a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which serves 547,900 people and lent 5.2M items last year.
What stands out about Hawks Prairie Timberland Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lacey’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lacey is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #86 of 152 in Washington. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Lacey is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lacey’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Lacey’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$113K) 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 →
187 community nonprofits are registered in Lacey
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (48 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Lacey’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 Lacey’s residents live; 2022.
49% of borrowing is digital
5.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,563,949 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 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Timberland Regional Library serves 547,900 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Timberland Regional Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Timberland Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
About 47 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.
2 places to borrow in Lacey
Hawks Prairie Timberland Library, 8205 Martin Way Suite B, Lacey.
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 Timberland Regional Library branch.
New in Lacey? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Timberland Regional Library branches in Lacey
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lacey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $28M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $82M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $28M 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 220,361 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lacey | Hawks Prairie Timberland Library fine-free | — | 56 | C+ |
| Olympia | West Olympia Timberland Library fine-free | — | 56 | A+ |
| Tanglewilde | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Timberland Regional Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Hawks Prairie Timberland Library is one branch of Timberland Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 547,900 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 Lacey
Does Lacey have a public library?
Yes: Hawks Prairie Timberland Library, 8205 Martin Way Suite B, is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which serves 547,900 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Timberland 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 Lacey’s library?
It lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 5,219 programs that drew 92,311 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Lacey’s civic life grade?
C+ Lacey is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #86 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 Lacey.
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.