Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Mexico’s library is a branch of Mexico-Audrain County Library District, which lends less per resident than 65% of systems its size
Mexico’s library is the Mexico Branch, a branch of Mexico-Audrain County Library District, which serves 24,962 people and lent 89K items last year.
What stands out about Mexico Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Mexico’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mexico is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #65 of 229 in Missouri. Mexico is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mexico’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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Mexico
6.9 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 (25 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Mexico’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 Mexico’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mexico-Audrain County Library District serves 24,962 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mexico-Audrain County Library District system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
89K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,858 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Mexico Branch, 305 W Jackson St., Mexico.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mexico-Audrain County Library District branch.
New in Mexico? 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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mexico cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $972K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $972K 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 11,997 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mexico Branch is one branch of Mexico-Audrain County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 24,962 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 Mexico
Does Mexico have a public library?
Yes: Mexico Branch, 305 W Jackson St., is a branch of Mexico-Audrain County Library District, which serves 24,962 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mexico-Audrain County 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 Mexico’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mexico’s civic life grade?
A− Mexico is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #65 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 Mexico.
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.