Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Versailles’ library runs 10 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Morgan County Library serves 21,006 people in and around Versailles. Last year it lent 70K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
What Versailles’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Morgan County Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 217 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 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; Morgan County Library serves 21,006 people in and around Versailles, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Versailles’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Versailles is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #187 of 229 in Missouri. Versailles is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Versailles’ 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Versailles
2.5 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Versailles’ 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 Versailles’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Morgan County Library serves 21,006 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Morgan County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
70K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,906 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
Morgan County Library, 600 N Hunter St., Versailles.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Morgan County Library branch.
New in Versailles? 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 $2.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Versailles cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $461K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $461K 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 5,600 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Morgan County Library serves 21,006 people in and around Versailles, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Versailles.
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 Versailles
Does Versailles have a public library?
Yes. Morgan County Library, 600 N Hunter St., serves 21,006 people in and around Versailles (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morgan County 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 Versailles’ library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Versailles’ civic life grade?
C Versailles is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #187 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 Versailles.
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.