Rich Hill’s library lends 7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Rich Hill Memorial Library serves Rich Hill’s 1,232 residents. Last year it lent 8,626 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,800 visits.
The short version on Rich Hill’s library
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 75% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 70%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Rich Hill Memorial Library serves 1,232 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Rich Hill Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Rich Hill Memorial Library spends $22 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Rich Hill’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rich Hill is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Rich Hill
4.8 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.5%
10.5% of Rich Hill’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 Rich Hill’s residents live; 2022.
19 programs a year
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 Rich Hill last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rich Hill Memorial Library serves 1,232 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,626 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Find it
Rich Hill Memorial Library, 514 E Walnut St., Rich Hill.
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 $4.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rich Hill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $26K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $127K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $26K 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 699 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. Rich Hill Memorial 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 Rich Hill
Does Rich Hill have a public library?
Yes. Rich Hill Memorial Library, 514 E Walnut St., serves Rich Hill’s 1,232 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rich Hill Memorial Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rich Hill’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Rich Hill’s civic life grade?
B+ Rich Hill is ahead of 66% 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 Rich Hill.
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.