Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0La Plata’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Laplata Public Library serves La Plata’s 1,257 residents. Last year it lent 3,535 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,234 visits.
What La Plata’s library is like
Open only about 16 hours a week
Laplata Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Laplata Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Laplata Public Library serves 1,257 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Laplata Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Laplata Public Library spends $19 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind La Plata’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, La Plata is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in La Plata
5.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.0%
11.0% of La Plata’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 La Plata’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Laplata Public Library serves 1,257 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,535 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
32 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 La Plata last year.
Find it
La Plata Public Library, 103 E Moore St., La Plata.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in La Plata? 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 $2.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average La Plata cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $60K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 605 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 La Plata
Does La Plata have a public library?
Yes. Laplata Public Library, 103 E Moore St., serves La Plata’s 1,257 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Laplata Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is La Plata’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is La Plata’s civic life grade?
B La Plata is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 La Plata.
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.