Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0Coloma’s library logs 7.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Coloma Public Library serves Coloma’s 1,570 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
Coloma’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Coloma Public Library serves 1,570 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 195 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Coloma Public Library logs about 40 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 4 public computers. That’s 9.3 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Coloma’s civic life grade
Coloma isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Coloma Public Library serves 1,570 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
4,051 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Coloma last year.
Find it
Coloma Public Library, 155 S. Front St., Coloma.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Coloma? 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 $2.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coloma cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $104K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $281K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $104K 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 667 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Coloma
Does Coloma have a public library?
Yes. Coloma Public Library, 155 S. Front St., serves Coloma’s 1,570 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coloma 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 Coloma’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Coloma’s civic life grade?
Coloma isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Coloma.
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.