Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Savannah’s library is a branch of Rolling Hills Consolidated, which lends more per resident than 80% of systems its size
Savannah’s library is the Savannah Branch, a branch of Rolling Hills Consolidated, which serves 41,674 people and lent 374K items last year.
What stands out about Savannah Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Savannah’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Savannah is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #15 of 229 in Missouri. Savannah is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Savannah
6.3 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.0%
12.0% of Savannah’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 Savannah’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rolling Hills Consolidated system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Rolling Hills Consolidated serves 41,674 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
374K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
63,997 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Savannah Branch, 514 W Main St., Savannah.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rolling Hills Consolidated branch.
New in Savannah? 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 $2.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Savannah cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 20,984 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Savannah Branch is one branch of Rolling Hills Consolidated, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 41,674 people it serves.
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 Savannah
Does Savannah have a public library?
Yes: Savannah Branch, 514 W Main St., is a branch of Rolling Hills Consolidated, which serves 41,674 people. The branch is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rolling Hills Consolidated 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 Savannah’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 9.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Savannah’s civic life grade?
A Savannah is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #15 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 Savannah.
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.