Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Waynesville’s library is a branch of Pulaski County Library, which lends less per resident than 91% of systems its size
Waynesville’s library is the Waynesville Library, a branch of Pulaski County Library, which serves 52,759 people and lent 70K items last year.
What Waynesville’s library is like
The Pulaski County Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Pulaski County Library system records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
80% of the 684 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Waynesville’s library is a branch of Pulaski County Library, so they cover the whole system (52,759 people), not just the Waynesville branch.
What’s behind Waynesville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Waynesville is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #209 of 229 in Missouri. Waynesville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Pulaski County Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$71K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Waynesville
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Waynesville’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 Waynesville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pulaski County Library serves 52,759 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pulaski 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.
23,424 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Waynesville Library, 306 Historic 66 West, Waynesville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pulaski County Library branch.
New in Waynesville? 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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waynesville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $818K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $818K 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 9,862 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waynesville | Waynesville Library fine-free | — | 50 | C− |
| St. Robert | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- System-wide. Waynesville Library is one branch of Pulaski County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 52,759 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 Waynesville
Does Waynesville have a public library?
Yes: Waynesville Library, 306 Historic 66 West, is a branch of Pulaski County Library, which serves 52,759 people. The branch is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pulaski 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 Waynesville’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Waynesville’s civic life grade?
C− Waynesville is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #209 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 Waynesville.
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.