Photo: Will Maupin · CC BY-SA 4.0Suncrest’s library is a branch of Stevens County Rural Library District, which lends more per resident than 50% of systems its size
Suncrest’s library is the Lakeside Community Library, a branch of Stevens County Rural Library District, which serves 47,650 people and lent 291K items last year.
What Suncrest’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
92% of the 617 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 10 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 80% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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; Suncrest’s library is a branch of Stevens County Rural Library District, so they cover the whole system (47,650 people), not just the Suncrest branch.
What’s behind Suncrest’s civic life grade
Suncrest isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Stevens County Rural Library District, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Suncrest
Suncrest is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
11.5%
11.5% of Suncrest’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 Suncrest’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Stevens County Rural Library District serves 47,650 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stevens County Rural Library District system. The library’s own count.
40% of borrowing is digital
291K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
115,576 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Lakeside Community Library, 5919 Hwy 291, Ste 2, Nine Mile Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stevens County Rural Library District branch.
New in Suncrest? 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 $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Suncrest cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 23,235 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lakeside Community Library is one branch of Stevens County Rural Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 47,650 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 Suncrest
Does Suncrest have a public library?
Yes: Lakeside Community Library, 5919 Hwy 291, Ste 2, is a branch of Stevens County Rural Library District, which serves 47,650 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stevens County Rural 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 Suncrest’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Suncrest’s civic life grade?
Suncrest isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Stevens County Rural Library District, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Suncrest.
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.