Photo: Chasealpha1 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Seymour’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Seymour Community Library serves Seymour’s 993 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Seymour’s library
More library cards than residents
1,478 cards for 993 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Seymour uses its library more than almost any town its size
Seymour Community Library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 17 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 45% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 14 items per child in Seymour last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Seymour Community Library serves 993 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 47 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
80% of the 59 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 47 for ages 0–5. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Seymour’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Seymour is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Seymour is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Seymour’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Seymour
2.0 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.9%
10.9% of Seymour’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 Seymour’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 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 under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Seymour Community Library serves 993 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
1,535 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
59 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 Seymour last year.
Find it
Seymour Community Library, 320 E Clinton Ave, Seymour.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Seymour? 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 $4.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Seymour cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $67K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $290K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $67K 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 1,478 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seymour | Seymour Community Library fine-free | 18.8 | 47 | B− |
| Diggins | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Seymour
Does Seymour have a public library?
Yes. Seymour Community Library, 320 E Clinton Ave, serves Seymour’s 993 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Seymour Community 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 Seymour’s library?
It logged 14.7 visits and lent 18.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Seymour’s civic life grade?
B− Seymour is ahead of 48% 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 Seymour.
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.