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COColorado rankings

Towns with the most-used public libraries in Colorado

Ranked by library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town. 17 towns with 2,500+ residents.

IMLS Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024

Map of Vail 1 Vail 24.3 per resident Vail Public Library Fort Morgan 2 Fort Morgan 7.9 per resident Fort Morgan Public Library La Junta 3 La Junta 7.4 per resident La Junta/Woodruff Memorial Library
#TownVisits per residentLibraryVisits a year
1 Map of Vail Vail4,613 people 24.3 per resident Vail Public Library 108,884
2 Fort Morgan Fort Morgan11,605 people 7.9 per resident Fort Morgan Public Library 92,204
3 La Junta La Junta7,140 people 7.4 per resident La Junta/Woodruff Memorial Library 52,021
4 Alamosa Alamosa9,879 people 6.5 per resident Alamosa Public Library 63,964
5 Cortez Cortez8,976 people 5.1 per resident Cortez Public Library 45,807
6 Map of Lafayette Lafayette30,602 people 4.8 per resident Lafayette Public Library 147,683
7 Burlington Burlington3,152 people 4.8 per resident Burlington Public Library 15,116
8 Littleton Littleton44,710 people 4.6 per resident Littleton/Bemis Public Library 204,442
9 Sterling Sterling13,172 people 3.8 per resident Sterling Public Library 49,494
10 Loveland Loveland78,410 people 3.7 per resident Loveland Public Library 293,085
11 Yuma Yuma3,459 people 3.7 per resident Yuma Public Library 12,500
12 Longmont Longmont99,406 people 3.5 per resident Longmont Public Library 340,163
13 Westminster Westminster115,484 people 3.3 per resident Westminster Public Library 381,970
14 Cañon City Cañon City17,122 people 3.3 per resident Canon City Public Library 56,914
15 Wellington Wellington11,798 people 2.0 per resident Wellington Public Library 23,788
16 Englewood Englewood34,129 people 1.7 per resident Englewood Public Library 57,833
17 Aurora Aurora394,432 people 1.4 per resident Aurora Public Library 561,286

How this ranking works

We rank every town by library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town. 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

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