Photo: Maureen Didde from Kansas City, MO, USA · CC BY 2.0Carthage’s library runs 5.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Carthage Public Library serves Carthage’s 15,522 residents. Last year it lent 70K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
What Carthage’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 83 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Carthage Public Library offered 83 programs last year, 5.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Carthage’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Carthage is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #194 of 229 in Missouri. Carthage’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$64K) 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 →
65 community nonprofits are registered in Carthage
4.2 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 (54 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Carthage’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 Carthage’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carthage Public Library serves 15,522 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
70K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 59K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
18,034 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, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Carthage last year.
Find it
Carthage Public Library, 612 S Garrison Ave, Carthage.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Carthage? 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 $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carthage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 10,970 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 Carthage
Does Carthage have a public library?
Yes. Carthage Public Library, 612 S Garrison Ave, serves Carthage’s 15,522 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carthage 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 Carthage’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Carthage’s civic life grade?
C Carthage is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #194 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 Carthage.
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.