Photo: Mcasagrand · CC BY-SA 4.0Sarcoxie’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Sarcoxie Public Library serves Sarcoxie’s 1,406 residents. Last year it lent 870 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,040 visits.
Sarcoxie’s library, in brief
Sarcoxie Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Sarcoxie Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $33 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Sarcoxie Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Sarcoxie Public Library serves 1,406 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 78 hours a week. 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 about 78 hours a week
Sarcoxie Public Library is open about 78 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people Sarcoxie Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Sarcoxie’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sarcoxie is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Sarcoxie Public Library spends $33 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($31K–$52K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Sarcoxie
1.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of Sarcoxie’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 Sarcoxie’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sarcoxie Public Library serves 1,406 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Sarcoxie Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
870 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
120 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sarcoxie last year.
Find it
Sarcoxie Public Library, 506 Center St., Sarcoxie.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sarcoxie? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sarcoxie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $46K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $46K 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 156 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. Sarcoxie 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 Sarcoxie
Does Sarcoxie have a public library?
Yes. Sarcoxie Public Library, 506 Center St., serves Sarcoxie’s 1,406 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 78 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sarcoxie Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sarcoxie’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sarcoxie’s civic life grade?
D− Sarcoxie is ahead of 3% 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 Sarcoxie.
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.