Wildwood House · Photo: Chuck Morris · CC BY-SA 3.0Ferguson’s library runs 10 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Ferguson Municipal Public Library District serves Ferguson’s 18,527 residents. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and logged 63K visits.
What stands out about Ferguson’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ferguson’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ferguson is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #179 of 229 in Missouri. Ferguson’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$59K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
86 community nonprofits are registered in Ferguson
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (34 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.
4.5%
4.5% of Ferguson’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 Ferguson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ferguson Municipal Public Library District serves 18,527 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 59K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
5,389 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
191 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 Ferguson last year.
Find it
Ferguson Municipal Public Library District, 35 N Florissant Rd, Ferguson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ferguson? 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 $1.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ferguson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $737K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $763K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $737K 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 9,577 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferguson | Ferguson Municipal Public Library District fine-free | 2.3 | 60 | C+ |
| Normandy | Natural Bridge Branch fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Florissant | Florissant Valley Branch fine-free | — | 68 | C+ |
| Dellwood | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Cool Valley | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Calverton Park | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Jennings | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Kinloch | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Berkeley | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- 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 Ferguson
Does Ferguson have a public library?
Yes. Ferguson Municipal Public Library District, 35 N Florissant Rd, serves Ferguson’s 18,527 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ferguson Municipal Public Library District 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 Ferguson’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ferguson’s civic life grade?
C+ Ferguson is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #179 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 Ferguson.
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.