Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Louisiana’s library runs 2.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Louisiana Public Library serves Louisiana’s 3,199 residents. Last year it lent 4,068 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,716 visits.
The short version on Louisiana’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Louisiana Public Library offered 9 programs last year, 2.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
3,222 cards for 3,199 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Louisiana Public Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Louisiana Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996. Today’s library there has 5,280 square feet. The building ↓
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.
What’s behind Louisiana’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Louisiana is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #139 of 229 in Missouri. Louisiana’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Louisiana
9.0 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Louisiana’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 Louisiana’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.
Louisiana Public Library serves 3,199 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
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
4,068 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
320 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
9 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Louisiana last year.
A National Register landmark since 1996
Louisiana Public Library, 121 N Third St., Louisiana.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Louisiana? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Louisiana Public Library
Louisiana Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 12, 1996. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Gothic Revival.
Louisiana Public Library is a historic Carnegie library building located at Louisiana, Pike County, Missouri. It was designed by the architectural firm Mauran, Russell & Garden and built in 1905. It is a one-story, Late Gothic Revival style rock-faced, cut limestone building on a partially exposed basement.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Louisiana cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $41K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $66K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $41K 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 3,222 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | Louisiana Public Library | 1.3 | 21 | B− |
| Atlas Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Louisiana
Does Louisiana have a public library?
Yes. Louisiana Public Library, 121 N Third St., serves Louisiana’s 3,199 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Louisiana Public Library 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 Louisiana’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Louisiana’s civic life grade?
B− Louisiana is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #139 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 Louisiana.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.