Photo: Stephenjayson · CC BY-SA 4.0Rolla’s library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Rolla Public Library serves Rolla’s 19,943 residents. Last year it lent 198K books, movies and e-books and logged 153K visits.
Rolla’s library, in brief
Rolla uses its library more than almost any town its size
Rolla Public Library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 8.4 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Rolla Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 60 items go out. The building ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Rolla last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Rolla’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rolla is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #28 of 229 in Missouri. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Rolla’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 →
159 community nonprofits are registered in Rolla
7.8 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 (48 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.
8.6%
8.6% of Rolla’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 Rolla’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 60 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rolla Public Library serves 19,943 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
198K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 74K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
30,595 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Rolla last year.
Find it
Rolla Public Library, 900 Pine St., Rolla.
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 Rolla? 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 $4.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rolla cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $666K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $666K 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 7,188 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. Rolla Public 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 Rolla
Does Rolla have a public library?
Yes. Rolla Public Library, 900 Pine St., serves Rolla’s 19,943 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rolla Public 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 Rolla’s library?
It logged 7.7 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rolla’s civic life grade?
A Rolla is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 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 Rolla.
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.