#1Richmond Heights
St. Louis County · 9,093 peopleVisits per resident a year·Richmond Heights Memorial Library, FY 2024
Richmond Heights, #1 on this list · Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Missouri rankings · Libraries
Towns with the most-used libraries in Missouri
Richmond Heights has the most-used library of Missouri’s 50 towns of 2,500+ with a library of their own: 16.6 visits per resident a year at Richmond Heights Memorial Library (IMLS Public Libraries Survey). The typical library here counts 3.2.
IMLS Public Libraries Survey: a year’s visits divided by the people the library serves. Only a library that serves one town (80–125% of its population) and reported its own count is ranked; IMLS estimates never are. A described list: no letters. How grades work
#116.6visits
#2North Kansas City
Clay County · 5,613 peopleVisits per resident a year·North Kansas City Public Library, FY 2024
#3Mountain View
Howell County · 2,661 peopleVisits per resident a year·Mountain View Public Library, FY 2024
All 50 towns
Visits per resident, highest first.
50 towns ranked. Not here? See why a town may be missing.
#TownVisits per residentPeople servedLibrary
18Poplar BluffButler County · 16,295 people16,225Poplar Bluff Municipal Library DistrictIMLS, FY 2024
22St. LouisSt. Louis city · 278,144 people301,578City of St. Louis Municipal Library DistrictIMLS, FY 2024
23FergusonSt. Louis County · 17,953 people18,527Ferguson Municipal Public Library DistrictIMLS, FY 2024
25Cape GirardeauCape Girardeau County · 40,977 people36,170Municipal Library District of the City of Cape GirardeauIMLS, FY 2024
Quick answers
Questions people ask
Which Missouri town has the most-used library?
Richmond Heights (St. Louis County): Richmond Heights Memorial Library counts 16.6 visits per resident a year. North Kansas City (16.5) and Mountain View (12.3) follow.
How are these towns ranked?
By library visits per resident in the IMLS Public Libraries Survey: the visits a town’s own library reported, divided by the population it serves, highest first. It is the same rank as on each town’s Library & civic life page. How grades work.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers towns of 2,500+ with a library of their own that reported its visits (50 in Missouri). Towns served by a county or regional system share its figure and aren’t ranked one by one; figures IMLS estimated for a library that didn’t report aren’t ranked; in states with strong townships the township, not a village inside it, is ranked. Every town is on the Missouri page.
Go deeper
All Missouri rankings →More Missouri lists
Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.
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