Sanborn Field and Soil Erosion Plots · Photo: Iwtwb8 · CC BY-SA 3.0Columbia’s library is a branch of Daniel Boone Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 87% of systems its size
Columbia’s library is the Columbia Public Library, a branch of Daniel Boone Regional Library, which serves 223,840 people and lent 2.8M items last year.
What Columbia’s library is like
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 39% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Columbia branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Columbia’s library is a branch of Daniel Boone Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (223,840 people), not just the Columbia branch.
What’s behind Columbia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbia is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #29 of 229 in Missouri. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #6. Columbia is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
713 community nonprofits are registered in Columbia
5.6 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 (154 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.8%
10.8% of Columbia’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 Columbia’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,099,642 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Daniel Boone Regional Library serves 223,840 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 214 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Daniel Boone Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
About 13 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
Columbia Public Library, 100 W Broadway, Columbia.
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 Daniel Boone Regional Library branch.
New in Columbia? 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 $3.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $12M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $42M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12M 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 90,941 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Columbia Public Library is one branch of Daniel Boone Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 223,840 people it serves.
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 Columbia
Does Columbia have a public library?
Yes: Columbia Public Library, 100 W Broadway, is a branch of Daniel Boone Regional Library, which serves 223,840 people. The branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Daniel Boone Regional 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 Columbia’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 12.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Columbia’s civic life grade?
A Columbia is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #29 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 Columbia.
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.