Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Union’s library is a branch of Scenic Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 51% of systems its size
Union’s library is the Union Branch, a branch of Scenic Regional Library, which serves 147,730 people and lent 634K items last year.
What stands out about Union Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Union’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Union is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #31 of 229 in Missouri. Union 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 →
76 community nonprofits are registered in Union
5.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.2%
10.2% of Union’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 Union’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Scenic Regional Library serves 147,730 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Scenic Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
634K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
174,237 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 21 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
Union Branch, 251 Union Plaza Dr, Union.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Scenic Regional Library branch.
New in Union? 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 $2.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Union cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.2M 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 43,025 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Union Branch is one branch of Scenic Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 147,730 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 Union
Does Union have a public library?
Yes: Union Branch, 251 Union Plaza Dr, is a branch of Scenic Regional Library, which serves 147,730 people. The branch is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Scenic Regional 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 Union’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Union’s civic life grade?
A Union is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #31 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 Union.
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.