Waddell House · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Lexington’s library is a branch of Trails Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 69% of systems its size
Lexington’s library is the Lexington Branch, a branch of Trails Regional Library, which serves 82,736 people and lent 254K items last year.
What stands out about Lexington Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lexington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lexington is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #6 of 229 in Missouri. Lexington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lexington’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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in Lexington
7.6 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.7%
11.7% of Lexington’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 Lexington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Trails Regional Library serves 82,736 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Trails Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
254K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
67,384 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 15 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
Lexington Branch, 1008 Main St., Lexington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Trails Regional Library branch.
New in Lexington? 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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lexington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 42,970 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lexington Branch is one branch of Trails Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 82,736 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 Lexington
Does Lexington have a public library?
Yes: Lexington Branch, 1008 Main St., is a branch of Trails Regional Library, which serves 82,736 people. The branch is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Trails Regional 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 Lexington’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lexington’s civic life grade?
A+ Lexington is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 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 Lexington.
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.