Rodgers Theatre Building · Photo: Michael Gäbler · CC BY-SA 3.0Poplar Bluff’s library lends 6.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Poplar Bluff Municipal Library District serves Poplar Bluff’s 16,225 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 156K books, movies and e-books and logged 69K visits.
The short version on Poplar Bluff’s library
The library is a National Register landmark
Poplar Bluff Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994. Today’s library there has 21,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 34% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
82% of Poplar Bluff carry a library card
13,309 cards for 16,225 people, or 82%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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 Poplar Bluff’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Poplar Bluff is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #129 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 →
66 community nonprofits are registered in Poplar Bluff
4.1 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 (33 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.4%
7.4% of Poplar Bluff’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 Poplar Bluff’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
156K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 55K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
52,321 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Poplar Bluff Municipal Library District serves 16,225 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 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 Poplar Bluff last year.
A National Register landmark since 1994
Poplar Bluff Municipal Library District, 318 N Main St., Poplar Bluff.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Poplar Bluff? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Poplar Bluff Public Library
Poplar Bluff Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 1, 1994. It is significant for its social history and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival. It was listed as part of Poplar Bluff MPS.
Poplar Bluff Municipal Library (Poplar Bluff Public Library) is a historic library building located at Poplar Bluff, Butler County, Missouri. It was built in 1936, and is a one-story, Colonial Revival style brick building. It sits on a full basement and has a gable roof. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
More about the building →Other libraries in Poplar Bluff
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Poplar Bluff cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 13,309 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Poplar Bluff
Does Poplar Bluff have a public library?
Yes. Poplar Bluff Municipal Library District, 318 N Main St., serves Poplar Bluff’s 16,225 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Poplar Bluff Municipal Library District 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 Poplar Bluff’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Poplar Bluff’s civic life grade?
B Poplar Bluff is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #129 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 Poplar Bluff.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.