Photo: Karenprince1111 · CC BY-SA 4.0Stockton’s library is a branch of Cedar County Library District, which lends less per resident than 68% of systems its size
Stockton’s library is the Stockton Branch, a branch of Cedar County Library District, which serves 14,188 people and lent 51K items last year.
What stands out about Stockton Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Stockton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Stockton is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Stockton is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Stockton’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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Stockton
3.3 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.5%
8.5% of Stockton’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 Stockton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cedar County Library District serves 14,188 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cedar County Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
51K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,553 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Stockton Branch, 717 East St., Stockton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cedar County Library District branch.
New in Stockton? 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 $2.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stockton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $294K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $836K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $294K 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 6,086 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Stockton Branch is one branch of Cedar County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 14,188 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 Stockton
Does Stockton have a public library?
Yes: Stockton Branch, 717 East St., is a branch of Cedar County Library District, which serves 14,188 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cedar County Library District 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 Stockton’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Stockton’s civic life grade?
B− Stockton is ahead of 51% 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 Stockton.
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.