Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Spokane’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Spokane Public Library serves Spokane’s 233,000 residents from 6 locations. Last year it lent 1.3M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.3M visits.
The short version on Spokane’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 98% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 39%. The building also logs about 415 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 84% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Most of Spokane’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 80% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Six places to borrow in Spokane
Spokane Public Library runs six locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Spokane’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Spokane is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #45 of 152 in Washington. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #41. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
1,023 community nonprofits are registered in Spokane
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (261 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 54 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Spokane’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’s residents live; 2022.
A year at Central Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Spokane Public Library serves 233,000 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
54% of borrowing is digital
1.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 270K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
719,977 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 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 Spokane last year.
6 places to borrow in Spokane
Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave., Spokane.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Spokane? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Spokane
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spokane cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $14M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $21M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14M 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 136,219 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spokane | Central Library fine-free | 5.7 | — | B+ |
| Airway Heights | Airway Heights Library fine-free | — | 35 | C |
| Country Homes | North Spokane Library fine-free | — | 64 | — unincorporated |
| Spokane Valley | Spokane Valley Library fine-free | — | 64 | D |
| Town and Country | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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
Does Spokane have a public library?
Yes. Spokane Public Library, 906 W. Main Ave., serves Spokane’s 233,000 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Spokane Public 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 Spokane’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Spokane’s civic life grade?
B+ Spokane is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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.
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.