Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCaruthersville’s library runs 57 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Caruthersville Public Library serves Caruthersville’s 5,562 residents. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What Caruthersville’s library is like
More library cards than residents
6,069 cards for 5,562 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
70% of the 319 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 94 were for children. 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 Caruthersville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Caruthersville is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #215 of 229 in Missouri. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Caruthersville’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($26K–$43K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Caruthersville
1.8 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.9%
2.9% of Caruthersville’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 Caruthersville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Caruthersville Public Library serves 5,562 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. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
3,579 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs 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 Caruthersville last year.
Find it
Caruthersville Public Library, 707 W 13th St., Caruthersville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Caruthersville? 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 $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Caruthersville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $255K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $519K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $255K 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 6,069 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Caruthersville Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Caruthersville
Does Caruthersville have a public library?
Yes. Caruthersville Public Library, 707 W 13th St., serves Caruthersville’s 5,562 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Caruthersville 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 Caruthersville’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Caruthersville’s civic life grade?
D Caruthersville is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #215 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 Caruthersville.
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.