Photo: HornColumbia · CC BY-SA 3.0Centralia’s library lends 8.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Centralia Public Library serves Centralia’s 4,053 residents. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.
The short version on Centralia’s library
More library cards than residents
4,946 cards for 4,053 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 ↓
A place to get online
Centralia Public Library logs about 86 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 11 public computers. That’s 7.7 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Centralia invests in its library
Centralia Public Library spends $91 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (85%) comes from local taxes. 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.
What’s behind Centralia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Centralia is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #62 of 229 in Missouri. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Centralia
4.9 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Centralia’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 Centralia’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Centralia Public Library serves 4,053 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
8,914 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, 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 Centralia last year.
Find it
Centralia Public Library, 210 S Jefferson St., Centralia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Centralia? 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 $2.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Centralia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $371K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $800K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $371K 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 4,946 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. Centralia 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 Centralia
Does Centralia have a public library?
Yes. Centralia Public Library, 210 S Jefferson St., serves Centralia’s 4,053 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Centralia 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 Centralia’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 10.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Centralia’s civic life grade?
A− Centralia is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #62 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 Centralia.
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.