TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
COColorado rankings

Towns that borrow the most from their library in Colorado

Ranked by books, movies, e-books and other items the town’s public library lent in a year, per resident. 17 towns with 2,500+ residents.

IMLS Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024

Map of Vail
Colorado · Most library borrowing

Where Vail lands: #3 of 17

11.8 per resident books, movies & e-books borrowed a year · Visit Vail →

Map of Lafayette 1 Lafayette 13.9 per resident Lafayette Public Library Loveland 2 Loveland 12.3 per resident Loveland Public Library Map of Vail 3 Vail 11.8 per resident Vail Public Library
#TownLoans per residentLibraryLoans a year
1 Map of Lafayette Lafayette30,602 people 13.9 per resident Lafayette Public Library 423,045
2 Loveland Loveland78,410 people 12.3 per resident Loveland Public Library 975,837
3 Map of Vail Vail4,613 people 11.8 per resident Vail Public Library 52,613
4 Littleton Littleton44,710 people 11.0 per resident Littleton/Bemis Public Library 489,464
5 Longmont Longmont99,406 people 10.2 per resident Longmont Public Library 997,685
6 Alamosa Alamosa9,879 people 10.2 per resident Alamosa Public Library 100,442
7 La Junta La Junta7,140 people 9.7 per resident La Junta/Woodruff Memorial Library 67,792
8 Cortez Cortez8,976 people 9.0 per resident Cortez Public Library 81,420
9 Cañon City Cañon City17,122 people 8.8 per resident Canon City Public Library 153,940
10 Burlington Burlington3,152 people 7.2 per resident Burlington Public Library 22,531
11 Yuma Yuma3,459 people 6.7 per resident Yuma Public Library 22,800
12 Englewood Englewood34,129 people 6.2 per resident Englewood Public Library 206,495
13 Westminster Westminster115,484 people 5.3 per resident Westminster Public Library 609,178
14 Fort Morgan Fort Morgan11,605 people 4.3 per resident Fort Morgan Public Library 50,076
15 Sterling Sterling13,172 people 4.1 per resident Sterling Public Library 52,554
16 Wellington Wellington11,798 people 3.9 per resident Wellington Public Library 46,191
17 Aurora Aurora394,432 people 2.8 per resident Aurora Public Library 1,117,553

How this ranking works

We rank every town by books, movies, e-books and other items the town’s public library lent in a year, per resident. The highest figure ranks #1. Each library reports its own yearly numbers to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (fiscal year 2024), and each town’s Library page shows how it compares with libraries of a similar size nationwide.

A town is ranked only when its library system serves that town alone, and the library’s own count of the people it serves is within 20% of the town’s population. Towns served by a county or regional system, or sharing a library with a neighbor, can’t be credited with the numbers, so they aren’t ranked. Libraries that didn’t respond to the survey aren’t ranked either. Vacation towns can rank high because summer residents and visitors use the library too.

Only towns with at least 2,500 residents are ranked; Census estimates for smaller places are too uncertain. Population and income: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Libraries: IMLS Public Libraries Survey. Town photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each town’s page.

Same ranking in other states

AL AZ CA CO FL IL IA KS ME MA MI MN MO NE NH NJ NM NY OK OR PA RI SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WI All of the U.S.