Buffalo’s library runs 3.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Dallas County Library serves 17,071 people in and around Buffalo. Last year it lent 60K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
Buffalo’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Dallas County Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Dallas County Library offered 54 programs last year, 3.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Dallas County Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% 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; Dallas County Library serves 17,071 people in and around Buffalo, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Buffalo’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Buffalo is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #75 of 229 in Missouri. Buffalo is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Buffalo’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Buffalo
3.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.3%
11.3% of Buffalo’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 Buffalo’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.
Dallas County Library serves 17,071 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dallas County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
60K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,348 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
54 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
Dallas County Library, 219 West Main Street, Buffalo.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dallas County Library branch.
New in Buffalo? 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 $5.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Buffalo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $173K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $936K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $173K 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 4,334 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Dallas County Library serves 17,071 people in and around Buffalo, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Buffalo.
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 Buffalo
Does Buffalo have a public library?
Yes. Dallas County Library, 219 West Main Street, serves 17,071 people in and around Buffalo (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dallas County 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 Buffalo’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Buffalo’s civic life grade?
A− Buffalo is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 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 Buffalo.
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.