James C. Fellows House · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Riceville’s library logs 8.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Riceville Public Library serves Riceville’s 2,028 residents. Last year it lent 14K print books and media and logged 17K visits.
Riceville’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Riceville Public Library serves 2,028 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 44 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
65% of the 173 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 57 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Riceville’s civic life grade
Riceville 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Riceville Public Library serves 2,028 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Books and media off the shelf
14K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Riceville last year.
Find it
Riceville Public Library, 307 Woodland Ave, Riceville.
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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Riceville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $133K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $257K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $133K 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 1,483 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.
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 Riceville
Does Riceville have a public library?
Yes. Riceville Public Library, 307 Woodland Ave, serves Riceville’s 2,028 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Riceville Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Riceville’s library?
It logged 8.2 visits and lent 7.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Riceville’s civic life grade?
Riceville 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 Riceville.
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.