Photo: Nicolas Henderson · CC BY 2.0Roberts’ library runs 28 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Roberts City Library serves 530 people in and around Roberts. Last year it lent 1,251 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,987 visits.
The short version on Roberts’s library
Open only about 16 hours a week
Roberts City Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Roberts City Library serves 530 residents with about 2 full-time staff. 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 ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 69% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 56% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Roberts’ civic life grade
Roberts 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Roberts City Library serves 530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,251 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
15 programs a year
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.
Find it
Roberts City Library, 2870 E 650 N, Roberts.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Roberts? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Roberts cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $22K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 312 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Roberts
Does Roberts have a public library?
Yes. Roberts City Library, 2870 E 650 N, serves 530 people in and around Roberts (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Roberts City Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Roberts’ library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Roberts’ civic life grade?
Roberts 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 Roberts.
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.