St. Paul Catholic Church · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Center’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Ralls County Library serves 10,065 people in and around Center. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,535 visits.
The short version on Center’s library
Ralls County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Ralls County Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 187 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 75% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Ralls County Library serves 10,065 people in and around Center, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Center’s civic life grade
Center isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ralls County Library serves 10,065 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ralls County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,517 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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
Ralls County Library, 102 N Public St., Center.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ralls County Library branch.
New in Center? 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 $1.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $216K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $247K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $216K 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 1,211 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ralls County Library serves 10,065 people in and around Center, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Center.
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 Center
Does Center have a public library?
Yes. Ralls County Library, 102 N Public St., serves 10,065 people in and around Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ralls County 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 Center’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Center’s civic life grade?
Center isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Center.
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.