Penney, J. C., Historic District · Photo: Bernd00 · CC BY-SA 3.0Kemmerer’s library runs 74 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Lincoln County Library System serves 20,880 people in and around Kemmerer. Last year it lent 221K books, movies and e-books and logged 123K visits.
Kemmerer’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Lincoln County Library System ran 1,544 programs last year, about 30 a week. That’s 74 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 25,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. 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; Lincoln County Library System serves 20,880 people in and around Kemmerer, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Kemmerer’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kemmerer is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns. Kemmerer is graded on two of the three inputs. Kemmerer’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Kemmerer
9.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.4%
5.4% of Kemmerer’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.3% in the typical Wyoming 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 Kemmerer’s residents live; 2022.
About 18 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lincoln County Library System serves 20,880 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lincoln County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
221K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,681 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lincoln County Library System, 519 Emerald, Kemmerer.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lincoln County Library System branch.
New in Kemmerer? 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 $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kemmerer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 10,700 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kemmerer | Lincoln County Library System fine-free | — | 50 | B |
| Diamondville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Lincoln County Library System serves 20,880 people in and around Kemmerer, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kemmerer.
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 Kemmerer
Does Kemmerer have a public library?
Yes. Lincoln County Library System, 519 Emerald, serves 20,880 people in and around Kemmerer (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lincoln County Library System 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 Kemmerer’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Kemmerer’s civic life grade?
B Kemmerer is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Kemmerer.
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.