Old Eddyville Historic District · Photo: Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) · Public domainEddyville’s library runs 21 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Lyon County Public Library serves 9,187 people in and around Eddyville. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
What stands out about Lyon County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Eddyville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Eddyville is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns. Eddyville is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Eddyville’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Eddyville
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Eddyville’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 Eddyville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lyon County Public Library serves 9,187 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lyon County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,825 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Lyon County Public Library, 261 Commerce Street, Eddyville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lyon County Public Library branch.
New in Eddyville? 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 $1.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Eddyville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $426K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $651K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $426K 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 3,990 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eddyville | Lyon County Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | C |
| Kuttawa | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lyon County Public Library serves 9,187 people in and around Eddyville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Eddyville.
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 Eddyville
Does Eddyville have a public library?
Yes. Lyon County Public Library, 261 Commerce Street, serves 9,187 people in and around Eddyville (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lyon 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 Eddyville’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Eddyville’s civic life grade?
C Eddyville is ahead of 30% 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 Eddyville.
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.