Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Fulton’s library is a branch of Lee-Itawamba Library System, which lends less per resident than 86% of systems its size
Fulton’s library is the Itawamba County-Pratt Memorial Library, a branch of Lee-Itawamba Library System, which serves 106,892 people and lent 186K items last year.
What Fulton’s library is like
The Lee-Itawamba Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Lee-Itawamba Library System records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Lee-Itawamba Library System offered 277 programs last year, 2.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 277 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Lee-Itawamba Library System spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
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; Fulton’s library is a branch of Lee-Itawamba Library System, so they cover the whole system (106,892 people), not just the Fulton branch.
What’s behind Fulton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fulton is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #48 of 85 in Mississippi. Fulton 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.
Lee-Itawamba Library System spends $15 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$66K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Fulton
1.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Fulton’s 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 Fulton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lee-Itawamba Library System serves 106,892 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lee-Itawamba Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
186K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,152 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Itawamba County-Pratt Memorial Library, 210 Cedar Street, Fulton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lee-Itawamba Library System branch.
New in Fulton? 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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fulton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 13,407 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Itawamba County-Pratt Memorial Library is one branch of Lee-Itawamba Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 106,892 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 Fulton
Does Fulton have a public library?
Yes: Itawamba County-Pratt Memorial Library, 210 Cedar Street, is a branch of Lee-Itawamba Library System, which serves 106,892 people. The branch is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lee-Itawamba Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fulton’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fulton’s civic life grade?
D Fulton is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #48 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 Fulton.
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.