Photo: Vsmith · CC BY-SA 4.0Ava’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Douglas County Public Library serves 11,578 people in and around Ava. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Ava’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Douglas County Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Douglas County Public Library offered 25 programs last year, 2.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Douglas County Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Douglas County Public Library serves 11,578 people in and around Ava, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ava’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ava is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #79 of 229 in Missouri. Ava is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Ava’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Ava
5.4 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Ava’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri 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 Ava’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.
Douglas County Public Library serves 11,578 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Douglas County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,851 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
25 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
Douglas County Public Library, 301 W. Webster Avenue, Ava.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Douglas County Public Library branch.
New in Ava? 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 $2.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ava cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $152K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $382K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $152K 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 4,257 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Douglas County Public Library serves 11,578 people in and around Ava, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ava.
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 Ava
Does Ava have a public library?
Yes. Douglas County Public Library, 301 W. Webster Avenue, serves 11,578 people in and around Ava (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Douglas County Public 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 Ava’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ava’s civic life grade?
B+ Ava is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #79 of 229 in Missouri. 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 Ava.
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.