Coldwater Cemetery · Photo: LittleT889 · CC BY-SA 4.0Old Jamestown’s library is a branch of Saint Louis County Library, which lends more per resident than 90% of systems its size
Old Jamestown’s library is the Jamestown Bluffs Branch, a branch of Saint Louis County Library, which serves 863,407 people and lent 1M items last year.
Old Jamestown’s library, in brief
One of the busiest library systems its size
The Saint Louis County Library system logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 8.3 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
818,923 cards for 863,407 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Old Jamestown branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. 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; Old Jamestown’s library is a branch of Saint Louis County Library, so they cover the whole system (863,407 people), not just the Old Jamestown branch.
What’s behind Old Jamestown’s civic life grade
Old Jamestown isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Saint Louis County Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Old Jamestown
Old Jamestown is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.6%
5.6% of Old Jamestown’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 Old Jamestown’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 139 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Saint Louis County Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Saint Louis County Library serves 863,407 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,296,437 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 141 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
Jamestown Bluffs Branch, 4153 N Highway 67, Florissant.
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 Saint Louis County Library branch.
New in Old Jamestown? 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 $2.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Old Jamestown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $61M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $159M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $61M 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 818,923 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Jamestown | Jamestown Bluffs Branch fine-free | — | 64 | — unincorporated |
| Florissant | Florissant Valley Branch fine-free | — | 68 | C+ |
| Black Jack | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Spanish Lake | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Jamestown Bluffs Branch is one branch of Saint Louis County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 863,407 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 Old Jamestown
Does Old Jamestown have a public library?
Yes: Jamestown Bluffs Branch, 4153 N Highway 67, is a branch of Saint Louis County Library, which serves 863,407 people. The branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saint Louis County 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 Old Jamestown’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 12.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Old Jamestown’s civic life grade?
Old Jamestown isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Saint Louis County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Old Jamestown.
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.