El Dorado Springs’ library is a branch of Cedar County Library District, which lends less per resident than 68% of systems its size
El Dorado Springs’s library is the El Dorado Springs Branch, a branch of Cedar County Library District, which serves 14,188 people and lent 51K items last year.
What stands out about El Dorado Springs Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind El Dorado Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, El Dorado Springs is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #170 of 229 in Missouri. El Dorado Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($24K–$40K) it does better, ahead of 68%.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in El Dorado Springs
3.4 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.4%
7.4% of El Dorado Springs’ 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 El Dorado Springs’ residents live; 2022.
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.
Cedar County Library District serves 14,188 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cedar County Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
51K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,553 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
El Dorado Springs Branch, 808 S Main St., El Dorado Springs.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cedar County Library District branch.
New in El Dorado Springs? 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 $2.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average El Dorado Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $294K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $836K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $294K 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 6,086 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. El Dorado Springs Branch is one branch of Cedar County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 14,188 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 El Dorado Springs
Does El Dorado Springs have a public library?
Yes: El Dorado Springs Branch, 808 S Main St., is a branch of Cedar County Library District, which serves 14,188 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cedar County Library District 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 El Dorado Springs’ library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is El Dorado Springs’ civic life grade?
C+ El Dorado Springs is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #170 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 El Dorado Springs.
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.