Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Ritzville’s library runs 57 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Ritzville Library District #2 serves Ritzville’s 3,569 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,377 visits.
What Ritzville’s library is like
The library is a National Register landmark
Ritzville Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. Today’s library there has 3,586 square feet. The building ↓
Ritzville invests in its library
Ritzville Library District #2 spends $96 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Ritzville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ritzville is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. Ritzville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Ritzville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Ritzville
16.2 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.4%
11.4% of Ritzville’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 Ritzville’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ritzville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $342K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $248K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $342K 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 2,034 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ritzville Library District #2 serves 3,569 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 10K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
5,089 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Ritzville last year.
A National Register landmark since 1982
Ritzville Public Library, 302 W Main Ave, Ritzville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ritzville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Ritzville Carnegie Library
Ritzville Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 3, 1982. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries of Washington TR.
The Ritzville Carnegie Library, located in Ritzville, Washington, is a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1907 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie and still operates as Ritzville's library. It was designed by the Spokane architectural firm of Preusse & Zittel.
More about the building →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 Ritzville
Does Ritzville have a public library?
Yes. Ritzville Library District #2, 302 W Main Ave, serves Ritzville’s 3,569 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ritzville Library District #2 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 Ritzville’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ritzville’s civic life grade?
A+ Ritzville is ahead of 98% 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 Ritzville.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.