Moville’s library runs 3.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Woodbury County Library serves 12,004 people in and around Moville. Last year it lent 35K print books and media and logged 12K visits.
What Moville’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Woodbury County Library offered 47 programs last year, 3.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 79% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 61% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Woodbury County Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, below 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Woodbury County Library serves 12,004 people in and around Moville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Moville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Moville is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Moville is graded on two of the three inputs. Moville’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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Moville
12.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.4%
3.4% of Moville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Moville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Woodbury County Library serves 12,004 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Woodbury County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
35K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
47 programs a year
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.
Find it
Woodbury County Library, 825 Main St., Moville.
No late fees. Good at every Woodbury County Library branch.
New in Moville? 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 $1.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Moville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $290K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $499K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $290K 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 1,368 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Woodbury County Library serves 12,004 people in and around Moville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Moville.
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 Moville
Does Moville have a public library?
Yes. Woodbury County Library, 825 Main St., serves 12,004 people in and around Moville (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Woodbury County Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Moville’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Moville’s civic life grade?
B− Moville is ahead of 51% 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 Moville.
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.