Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Webster Groves’ library lends 8.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Webster Groves Public Library serves Webster Groves’s 24,010 residents. Last year it lent 265K books, movies and e-books and logged 114K visits.
The short version on Webster Groves’s library
Open about 66 hours a week
Webster Groves Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Webster Groves Public Library offered 227 programs last year, 9.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Webster Groves’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Webster Groves is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #54 of 229 in Missouri. All three 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 →
102 community nonprofits are registered in Webster Groves
4.3 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 (35 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.8%
12.8% of Webster Groves’ 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 Webster Groves’ residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
265K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 82K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
66,133 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Webster Groves Public Library serves 24,010 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 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 Webster Groves last year.
Find it
City of Webster Groves Municipal Library, 301 E Lockwood Ave, Webster Groves.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Webster Groves? 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 $3.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Webster Groves cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 11,159 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Webster Groves ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | Brentwood Public Library fine-free | 15.9 | 65 | A− |
| Maplewood | Maplewood Public Library | 11.1 | 60 | A |
| Webster Groves | City of Webster Groves Municipal Library fine-free | 11.0 | 66 | A− |
| Rock Hill | Rock Hill Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 45 | B+ |
| Oakland | Oak Bend Branch fine-free | — | 64 | B |
| Shrewsbury | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Crestwood | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Glendale | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Marlborough | None of its own | — | — | B |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Webster Groves Public 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 Webster Groves
Does Webster Groves have a public library?
Yes. Webster Groves Public Library, 301 E Lockwood Ave, serves Webster Groves’ 24,010 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Webster Groves Public 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 Webster Groves’ library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Webster Groves’ civic life grade?
A− Webster Groves is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 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 Webster Groves.
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.