Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5St. Joseph’s library logs 1.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Saint Joseph Public Library serves St. Joseph’s 61,254 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 223K books, movies and e-books and logged 119K visits.
The short version on St. Joseph’s library
The library is a National Register landmark
St. Joseph Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. Today’s library there has 15,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The main library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Four places to borrow in St. Joseph
Saint Joseph Public Library runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 St. Joseph’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Joseph is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #175 of 229 in Missouri. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) 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 →
277 community nonprofits are registered in St. Joseph
3.9 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 (88 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of St. Joseph’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 St. Joseph’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1982
Downtown Library, 927 Felix Street, St. Joseph.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in St. Joseph? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
St. Joseph Public Library
St. Joseph Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 20, 1982. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level.
St. Joseph Public Library, also known as Free Public Library, Public Museum, Public Library, and Board of Education Building, is a historic library building located at St. Joseph, Missouri. This library has over 9,000 books. It was designed by the architect Edmond Jacques Eckel (1845–1934) and built in 1901–1902 in the French Baroque style.
More about the building →Other libraries in St. Joseph
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Saint Joseph Public Library serves 61,254 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
223K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 230K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
58,784 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 St. Joseph last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Joseph cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 22,852 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph | Downtown Library fine-free | 3.6 | 64 | C+ |
| Washington Township | Wathena Branch Library fine-free | — | 44 | B− |
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 are a typical-week estimate. Saint Joseph 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 St. Joseph
Does St. Joseph have a public library?
Yes. Saint Joseph Public Library, 927 Felix Street, serves St. Joseph’s 61,254 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saint Joseph 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 St. Joseph’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is St. Joseph’s civic life grade?
C+ St. Joseph is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #175 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 St. Joseph.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.