Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Dexter’s library runs 4.7 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Keller Public Library of Dexter serves Dexter’s 7,927 residents. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
The short version on Dexter’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Keller Public Library of Dexter offered 37 programs last year, 4.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Dexter has a card
7,267 cards for 7,927 people, or 92%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Keller Public Library of Dexter holds 52,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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.
What’s behind Dexter’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dexter is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #105 of 229 in Missouri. Dexter’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Dexter
5.1 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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of Dexter’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 Dexter’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Keller Public Library of Dexter serves 7,927 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
11,849 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
37 programs a year
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 Dexter last year.
Find it
Keller Public Library of Dexter, 402 W Grant St., Dexter.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dexter? 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 $2.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dexter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $216K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $630K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $216K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 7,267 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 Dexter
Does Dexter have a public library?
Yes. Keller Public Library of Dexter, 402 W Grant St., serves Dexter’s 7,927 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Keller Public Library of Dexter fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Dexter’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Dexter’s civic life grade?
B Dexter is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #105 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 Dexter.
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.