Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Bernie’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Bernie Public Library serves Bernie’s 1,859 residents. Last year it lent 1,133 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,448 visits.
Bernie’s library, in brief
Bernie Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Bernie Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bernie Public Library offered 4 programs last year, 2.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Bernie Public Library serves 1,859 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 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 ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Bernie Public Library holds 21,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Bernie’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bernie is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Bernie Public Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$61K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Bernie
1.7 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.1%
7.1% of Bernie’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 Bernie’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bernie Public Library serves 1,859 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Bernie Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,133 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
4 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bernie last year.
Find it
Bernie Public Library, 111 N Allen St., Bernie.
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 Bernie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $41K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $41K 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 928 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 Bernie
Does Bernie have a public library?
Yes. Bernie Public Library, 111 N Allen St., serves Bernie’s 1,859 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bernie Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bernie’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bernie’s civic life grade?
D Bernie is ahead of 10% 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 Bernie.
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.