Adair County Courthouse · Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Columbia’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Adair County Public Library serves 19,264 people in and around Columbia. Last year it lent 60K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What Columbia’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Adair County Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 161 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Adair County Public Library offered 161 programs last year, 8.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Adair County Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, below 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.5 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; Adair County Public Library serves 19,264 people in and around Columbia, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Columbia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbia is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #123 of 126 in Kentucky. Columbia is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Columbia’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Adair County Public Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$59K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Columbia
2.2 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.5%
4.5% of Columbia’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Columbia’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Adair County Public Library serves 19,264 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Adair County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
60K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,889 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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
Adair County Public Library, 307 Greensburg Street, Columbia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Adair County Public Library branch.
New in Columbia? 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 $2.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $368K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $943K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $368K 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 6,409 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Adair County Public Library serves 19,264 people in and around Columbia, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Columbia.
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 Columbia
Does Columbia have a public library?
Yes. Adair County Public Library, 307 Greensburg Street, serves 19,264 people in and around Columbia (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Adair County Public Library 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 Columbia’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Columbia’s civic life grade?
D Columbia is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #123 of 126 in Kentucky. 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 Columbia.
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.