Photo: Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA · CC BY 2.0Bay St. Louis’ library is a branch of Hancock County Library, which lends less per resident than 69% of systems its size
Bay St. Louis’s library is the Bay St. Louis - Hancock County Library, a branch of Hancock County Library, which serves 46,159 people and lent 146K items last year.
What Bay St. Louis’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 94% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 31%. The building also logs about 192 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 79% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
69% of the 1,435 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 250 were for children. 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; Bay St. Louis’s library is a branch of Hancock County Library, so they cover the whole system (46,159 people), not just the Bay St. Louis branch.
What’s behind Bay St. Louis’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bay St. Louis is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #6 of 85 in Mississippi. Bay St. Louis is graded on two of the three inputs. Bay St. Louis’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Bay St. Louis
5.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Bay St. Louis’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical Mississippi 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 Bay St. Louis’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hancock County Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hancock County Library serves 46,159 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
146K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
41,457 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Bay St. Louis - Hancock County Library, 312 Highway 90, Bay St. Louis.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hancock County Library branch.
New in Bay St. Louis? 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 $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bay St. Louis cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 17,055 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay St. Louis | Bay St. Louis - Hancock County Library fine-free | — | 50 | B− |
| Waveland | Waveland Public Library fine-free | — | 46 | C− |
| Diamondhead | East Hancock Public Library fine-free | — | 43 | C |
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. Bay St. Louis - Hancock County Library is one branch of Hancock County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 46,159 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 Bay St. Louis
Does Bay St. Louis have a public library?
Yes: Bay St. Louis - Hancock County Library, 312 Highway 90, is a branch of Hancock County Library, which serves 46,159 people. The branch is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hancock 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 Bay St. Louis’ library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bay St. Louis’ civic life grade?
B− Bay St. Louis is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 of 85 in Mississippi. 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 Bay St. Louis.
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.