Photo: Locke Cole · CC BY-SA 4.0Spokane Valley’s library is a branch of Spokane County Library District, which lends more per resident than 54% of systems its size
Spokane Valley’s library is the Spokane Valley Library, a branch of Spokane County Library District, which serves 312,530 people and lent 2.9M items last year.
What Spokane Valley’s library is like
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 63% of loans, more per resident than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 37%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Spokane Valley branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Spokane Valley’s library is a branch of Spokane County Library District, so they cover the whole system (312,530 people), not just the Spokane Valley branch.
What’s behind Spokane Valley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Spokane Valley is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #129 of 152 in Washington. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #259. Spokane Valley 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 →
215 community nonprofits are registered in Spokane Valley
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (78 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Spokane Valley’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 Spokane Valley’s residents live; 2022.
63% of borrowing is digital
2.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,788,264 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Spokane County Library District serves 312,530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Spokane County Library District
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Spokane County Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 51 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.
Find it
Spokane Valley Library, 22 N Herald Rd, Spokane Valley.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Spokane County Library District branch.
New in Spokane Valley? 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 $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spokane Valley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $18M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $42M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $18M 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 143,001 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 | Central Library fine-free | 5.7 | — | B+ |
| Spokane Valley | Spokane Valley Library fine-free | — | 64 | D |
| Millwood | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- System-wide. Spokane Valley Library is one branch of Spokane County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 312,530 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 Spokane Valley
Does Spokane Valley have a public library?
Yes: Spokane Valley Library, 22 N Herald Rd, is a branch of Spokane County Library District, which serves 312,530 people. The branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Spokane 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 Spokane Valley’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Spokane Valley’s civic life grade?
D Spokane Valley is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #129 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 Spokane Valley.
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.