Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Liberty Lake’s library lends 8.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Liberty Lake Municipal Library serves Liberty Lake’s 13,870 residents. Last year it lent 119K print books and media and logged 70K visits.
What Liberty Lake’s library is like
The shelves work hard
Each of the 25,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.8 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 306 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 17 items per child in Liberty Lake last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Liberty Lake’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Liberty Lake is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #76 of 152 in Washington. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
47 community nonprofits are registered in Liberty Lake
3.7 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Liberty Lake’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 Liberty Lake’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Liberty Lake last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Liberty Lake Municipal Library serves 13,870 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
119K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.8 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Liberty Lake Municipal Library, 23123 E. Mission Ave, Liberty Lake.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Liberty Lake? 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 $2.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Liberty Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $697K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $697K 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 7,460 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Lake | Liberty Lake Municipal Library fine-free | 8.6 | 46 | B− |
| Spokane Valley | Spokane Valley Library fine-free | — | 64 | D |
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.
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 Liberty Lake
Does Liberty Lake have a public library?
Yes. Liberty Lake Municipal Library, 23123 E. Mission Ave, serves Liberty Lake’s 13,870 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Liberty Lake Municipal 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 Liberty Lake’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 8.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Liberty Lake’s civic life grade?
B− Liberty Lake is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 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 Liberty Lake.
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.