Photo: Rob Stinnett from Boonville, MO, USA · CC BY 2.0Fayette’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Howard County Public Library serves 9,094 people in and around Fayette. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,717 visits.
What Fayette’s library is like
Howard County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Howard County Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 74 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 49 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Howard County Public Library offered 74 programs last year, 8.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Howard County Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Howard County Public Library serves 9,094 people in and around Fayette, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fayette’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fayette is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #24 of 229 in Missouri. Fayette is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Fayette’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Fayette
13.9 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Fayette’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 Fayette’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Howard County Public Library serves 9,094 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Howard County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,689 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Howard County Public Library, 201 S Main St., Fayette.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Howard County Public Library branch.
New in Fayette? 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 $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fayette cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $139K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $224K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $139K 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 3,903 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Howard County Public Library serves 9,094 people in and around Fayette, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fayette.
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 Fayette
Does Fayette have a public library?
Yes. Howard County Public Library, 201 S Main St., serves 9,094 people in and around Fayette (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Howard 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 Fayette’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fayette’s civic life grade?
A Fayette is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Fayette.
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.