Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Mount Vernon’s library is a branch of Barry-Lawrence Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 54% of systems its size
Mount Vernon’s library is the Mt. Vernon Branch Library, a branch of Barry-Lawrence Regional Library, which serves 72,535 people and lent 313K items last year.
What stands out about Mt. Vernon Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Mount Vernon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Vernon is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #71 of 229 in Missouri. Mount Vernon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mount Vernon’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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Vernon
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Mount Vernon’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 Mount Vernon’s residents live; 2022.
About 26 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Barry-Lawrence Regional Library serves 72,535 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Barry-Lawrence Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
313K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
67,631 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mt. Vernon Branch Library, 206 W Water St., Mt. Vernon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Barry-Lawrence Regional Library branch.
New in Mount Vernon? 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 $2.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Vernon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 22,381 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mt. Vernon Branch Library is one branch of Barry-Lawrence Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 72,535 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 Mount Vernon
Does Mount Vernon have a public library?
Yes: Mt. Vernon Branch Library, 206 W Water St., is a branch of Barry-Lawrence Regional Library, which serves 72,535 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Barry-Lawrence 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 Mount Vernon’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Mount Vernon’s civic life grade?
A− Mount Vernon is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #71 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 Mount Vernon.
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.