Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Osceola’s library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Saint Clair County Library serves 8,252 people in and around Osceola. Last year it lent 53K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
Osceola’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
7,174 cards for 8,252 people, or 87%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 70% 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; Saint Clair County Library serves 8,252 people in and around Osceola, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Osceola’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Osceola is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns. Osceola is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Osceola’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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Osceola
5.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Osceola’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 Osceola’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Saint Clair County Library serves 8,252 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Saint Clair County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
53K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,124 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Saint Clair County Library, 115 Chestnut St., Osceola.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Saint Clair County Library branch.
New in Osceola? 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 $3.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Osceola cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $261K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $847K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $261K 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 7,174 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Saint Clair County Library serves 8,252 people in and around Osceola, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Osceola.
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 Osceola
Does Osceola have a public library?
Yes. Saint Clair County Library, 115 Chestnut St., serves 8,252 people in and around Osceola (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saint Clair County 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 Osceola’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Osceola’s civic life grade?
A− Osceola is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Osceola.
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.