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Dr. John and Viola Phillips House and OfficeDr. John and Viola Phillips House and Office · Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 4.0
Newport Public Library · part of Pend Oreille County Library District

Newport’s library is a branch of Pend Oreille County Library District, which lends more per resident than 63% of systems its size

Newport’s library is the Newport Public Library, a branch of Pend Oreille County Library District, which serves 13,850 people and lent 69K items last year.

116 S Washington Avenue, Newport 99156 · about 50 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 73% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (800) 366-3654 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
69K
5 per resident
Visits a year
39K
2.8 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
1,001
about 19 a week · 19K attended
Cardholders
34%
4,709 cards
Open
50 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Newport Public Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

A program powerhouseA Wi-Fi hubFine-freePart of a bigger system
Civic life grade

What’s behind Newport’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Newport is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. Newport is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Newport’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Newport’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureA−Community nonprofits5.8 per 1,000 residents · WA towns 4.0 · U.S. 3.7B−Volunteering7.7% of adults 25–44 · WA towns 7.7% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 73%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $38K–$64K (5,282)Ahead of 71%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Newport is small (2,242 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

13 community nonprofits are registered in Newport

5.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans21.15 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services21.15 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education20.78 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.69 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

7.7%

7.7% of Newport’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 Newport’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

1,001 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Newport →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–50
Ages 6–110
Teens0
Adults0
All ages0
19K
people at programs
1,001
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.8 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 54%
Borrowing per resident 5 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 63%
Program attendance 1.4 attendees · typical 0.4Top 10%
Programs offered 72.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Top 10%
Cardholders 34% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 61%
Spending $61 per resident · typical $43Higher than 71%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Pend Oreille County Library District serves 13,850 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pend Oreille County Library District system. The library’s own count.

39K
visits
2.8 per resident
69K
loans, print + digital
5 per resident
1,001
programs & events
19K attended
4,709
library cards
34% of people served
Every open hour9items borrowed
Every week367people at a program
Every day152Wi-Fi sessions
10 staff (full-time equivalent)23 public computers
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

69K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

The survey has no count of children’s loans for Newport’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

From your couch

Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Newport Public Library, 116 S Washington Avenue, Newport.

Directions(800) 366-3654
50
hours open a week
3,000
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pend Oreille County Library District branch.

New in Newport? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.83 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newport cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
1
Your card saves you about
$240
a year at retail prices · $20 a month

Who pays for it
$61 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $839K.

Local taxes 88%State 4%Federal 0%Gifts & other 8%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $839K 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 4,709 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

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. Newport Public Library is one branch of Pend Oreille County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 13,850 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 Newport

Does Newport have a public library?

Yes: Newport Public Library, 116 S Washington Avenue, is a branch of Pend Oreille County Library District, which serves 13,850 people. The branch is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Pend Oreille County Library District 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 Newport’s library?

It logged 2.8 visits and lent 5.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Newport’s civic life grade?

B+ Newport is ahead of 73% 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 Newport.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.