Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Yakima’s library runs 16 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Yakima Valley Regional Library serves 251,520 people in and around Yakima from 2 locations. Last year it lent 859K books, movies and e-books and logged 410K visits.
Yakima’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 4,113 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 12 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Yakima Valley Regional Library serves 251,520 people in and around Yakima, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Yakima’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Yakima is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #116 of 152 in Washington. Yakima is graded on two of the three inputs. Yakima’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$79K) 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 →
380 community nonprofits are registered in Yakima
3.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (105 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Yakima’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 Yakima’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Yakima Valley Regional Library serves 251,520 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Yakima Valley Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
859K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
333,993 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 66 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.
2 places to borrow in Yakima
Yakima Central Library, 102 North Third Street, Yakima.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Yakima Valley Regional Library branch.
New in Yakima? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Yakima Valley Regional Library branches in Yakima
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Yakima cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.1M 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 42,482 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yakima | Yakima Central Library fine-free | — | 52 | C− |
| Union Gap | Union Gap Library fine-free | — | 37 | D− |
| Terrace Heights | Terrace Heights Library fine-free | — | 28 | — unincorporated |
| Selah | Selah Library fine-free | — | 50 | C− |
| Ahtanum | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Summitview | 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.
- System-wide. Yakima Valley Regional Library serves 251,520 people in and around Yakima, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Yakima.
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 Yakima
Does Yakima have a public library?
Yes. Yakima Valley Regional Library, 102 North Third Street, serves 251,520 people in and around Yakima (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Yakima Valley Regional 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 Yakima’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Yakima’s civic life grade?
C− Yakima is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #116 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 Yakima.
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.