Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Richmond Heights’ library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Richmond Heights Memorial Library serves Richmond Heights’s 9,286 residents. Last year it lent 121K books, movies and e-books and logged 154K visits.
What Richmond Heights’s library is like
Richmond Heights has the most-used library in Missouri
Out of 50 Missouri towns with a library of their own, Richmond Heights comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #4 for borrowing and #5 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Richmond Heights uses its library more than almost any town its size
Richmond Heights Memorial Library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in Richmond Heights last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 22% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Richmond Heights invests in its library
Richmond Heights Memorial Library spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Richmond Heights’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Richmond Heights is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #10 of 229 in Missouri. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Richmond Heights Memorial Library logged 16.6 visits per resident in FY2024, #50 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in Richmond Heights
6.7 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.0%
10.0% of Richmond Heights’ 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 Richmond Heights’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 38 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Richmond Heights Memorial Library serves 9,286 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
121K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 67K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
26,195 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Richmond Heights last year.
Find it
Richmond Heights Memorial Library, 8001 Dale Ave, Richmond Heights.
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 Richmond Heights? 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 $2.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Richmond Heights cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $864K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $864K 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 7,578 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Richmond Heights ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | Brentwood Public Library fine-free | 15.9 | 65 | A− |
| Richmond Heights | Richmond Heights Memorial Library fine-free | 13.1 | 61 | A+ |
| Maplewood | Maplewood Public Library | 11.1 | 60 | A |
| St. Louis | Central Library fine-free | 8.6 | 64 | A− |
| Clayton | Mid-County Branch fine-free | — | 64 | A |
| Ladue | None of its own | — | — | A |
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.
- Visits count everyone. Richmond Heights’ 154,461 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Richmond Heights
Does Richmond Heights have a public library?
Yes. Richmond Heights Memorial Library, 8001 Dale Ave, serves Richmond Heights’ 9,286 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Richmond Heights Memorial 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 Richmond Heights’ library?
It logged 16.6 visits and lent 13.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Richmond Heights’ civic life grade?
A+ Richmond Heights is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Richmond Heights.
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.