Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Mountain View’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mountain View Public Library serves Mountain View’s 2,533 residents. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
The short version on Mountain View’s library
More library cards than residents
3,924 cards for 2,533 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 ↓
Mountain View ranks 3rd in Missouri for library use
Out of 50 Missouri towns with a library of their own, Mountain View comes 3rd for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
Mountain View uses its library more than almost any town its size
Mountain View Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.7 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 81 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 46 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Mountain View’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mountain View is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #140 of 229 in Missouri. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Mountain View
3.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Mountain View’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 Mountain View’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mountain View Public Library serves 2,533 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
4,633 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Mountain View last year.
Find it
Mountain View Public Library, 125 S Oak St., Mountain View.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mountain View? 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 $3.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mountain View cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $144K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $461K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $144K 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 3,924 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. Mountain View 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 Mountain View
Does Mountain View have a public library?
Yes. Mountain View Public Library, 125 S Oak St., serves Mountain View’s 2,533 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mountain View 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 Mountain View’s library?
It logged 12.3 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mountain View’s civic life grade?
B− Mountain View is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #140 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 Mountain View.
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.