Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Mound City’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mound City Public Library serves Mound City’s 1,004 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,488 visits.
The short version on Mound City’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 68% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 38 items per child in Mound City last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
93% of the 112 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 49 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Mound City Public Library serves 1,004 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 29 hours a week. 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 ↓
Mound City is a town of borrowers
Mound City Public Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 58% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Mound City’s civic life grade
Mound City isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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 Mound City last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mound City Public Library serves 1,004 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
729 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mound City Public Library, 207 E Sixth St., Mound City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mound City? 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 $2.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mound City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $69K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $202K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $69K 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 839 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Mound City Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Mound City
Does Mound City have a public library?
Yes. Mound City Public Library, 207 E Sixth St., serves Mound City’s 1,004 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mound City Public 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 Mound City’s library?
It logged 7.5 visits and lent 13.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mound City’s civic life grade?
Mound City isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Mound City.
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.