Photo: Grey Wanderer · CC BY-SA 4.0Tipton’s library runs 145 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Price James Memorial Library serves Tipton’s 2,920 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,316 visits.
The short version on Tipton’s library
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Price James Memorial Library ran 423 programs last year, about 8 a week. That’s 145 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 5,412 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 423 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week 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.
What’s behind Tipton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Tipton is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #92 of 229 in Missouri. Tipton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Tipton
7.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.5%
10.5% of Tipton’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 Tipton’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Tipton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Price James Memorial Library serves 2,920 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
3,262 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Price James Memorial Library, 104 E Morgan St., Tipton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tipton? 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 $3.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tipton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $76K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $301K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $76K 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 1,247 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. Price James Memorial 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 Tipton
Does Tipton have a public library?
Yes. Price James Memorial Library, 104 E Morgan St., serves Tipton’s 2,920 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Price James Memorial 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 Tipton’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tipton’s civic life grade?
B+ Tipton is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #92 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 Tipton.
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.