Photo: Rowen Hansen · CC BY-SA 4.0Drexel’s library is a branch of Cass County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 62% of systems its size
Drexel’s library is the Drexel Branch, a branch of Cass County Public Library, which serves 107,824 people and lent 518K items last year.
What stands out about Drexel Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Drexel’s civic life grade
Drexel 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 →
About 19 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Cass County Public Library serves 107,824 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cass County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
518K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
89,247 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Drexel Branch, 211 E Main St., Drexel.
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 Cass County Public Library branch.
New in Drexel? 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 Drexel cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 64,633 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drexel | Drexel Branch fine-free | — | 34 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sugar Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Boone Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Drexel Branch is one branch of Cass County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 107,824 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 Drexel
Does Drexel have a public library?
Yes: Drexel Branch, 211 E Main St., is a branch of Cass County Public Library, which serves 107,824 people. The branch is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cass County 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 Drexel’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Drexel’s civic life grade?
Drexel 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 Drexel.
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.