Photo: ECTran71 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lakewood’s library is a branch of Pierce County Library System, which lends more per resident than 60% of systems its size
Lakewood’s library is the Interim Lakewood Branch, a branch of Pierce County Library System, which serves 665,760 people and lent 2.6M items last year.
What stands out about Interim Lakewood Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lakewood’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lakewood is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #121 of 152 in Washington. Lakewood is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($56K–$93K) 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 →
168 community nonprofits are registered in Lakewood
2.7 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 (79 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 14 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Lakewood’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 Lakewood’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pierce County Library System serves 665,760 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 55 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pierce County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.6M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 36 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 Lakewood
Interim Lakewood Branch, 10202 Gravelly Lake Dr. SW, Lakewood.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pierce County Library System branch.
New in Lakewood? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Pierce County Library System branches in Lakewood
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lakewood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $43M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $41M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43M 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 336,412 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tacoma | Main Branch fine-free | 7.9 | — | B− |
| Lakewood | Interim Lakewood Branch fine-free | — | 47 | C− |
| University Place | University Place Library fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| Parkland | Parkland/Spanaway Library fine-free | — | 61 | — unincorporated |
| Steilacoom | Steilacoom Library fine-free | — | 48 | A |
| McChord AFB | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Fort Lewis | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| North Fort Lewis | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Interim Lakewood Branch is one branch of Pierce County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 665,760 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 Lakewood
Does Lakewood have a public library?
Yes: Interim Lakewood Branch, 10202 Gravelly Lake Dr. SW, is a branch of Pierce County Library System, which serves 665,760 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pierce County Library System 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 Lakewood’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lakewood’s civic life grade?
C− Lakewood is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #121 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 Lakewood.
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.