Photo: PhotolitherlandChris Litherland · CC BY-SA 3.0Jasper’s library is a branch of Newton County, which lends less per resident than 74% of systems its size
Jasper’s library is the Newton County Library, a branch of Newton County, which serves 7,225 people and lent 21K items last year.
What stands out about Newton County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Jasper’s civic life grade
Jasper 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Newton County serves 7,225 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Newton County system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,639 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Newton County Library, 230 S. Stone, Jasper.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Newton County branch.
New in Jasper? 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 $2.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jasper cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $140K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $366K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $140K 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 2,628 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Newton County Library is one branch of Newton County, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 7,225 people it serves.
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 Jasper
Does Jasper have a public library?
Yes: Newton County Library, 230 S. Stone, is a branch of Newton County, which serves 7,225 people. The branch is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newton County 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 Jasper’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Jasper’s civic life grade?
Jasper 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 Jasper.
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.