Gautier’s library is a branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Gautier’s library is the Kathleen Mcilwain Public Library of Gautier, a branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, which serves 172,008 people and lent 425K items last year.
What stands out about Kathleen Mcilwain Public Library of Gautier
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Gautier’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gautier is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #66 of 85 in Mississippi. Gautier is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Gautier’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Gautier
2.4 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.0%
4.0% of Gautier’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 Gautier’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Jackson-George Regional Library System serves 172,008 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jackson-George Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
425K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
63,028 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 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
Kathleen Mcilwain Public Library of Gautier, 2100 Library Lane, Gautier.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jackson-George Regional Library System branch.
New in Gautier? 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 $1.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gautier cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.6M 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 136,601 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gautier | Kathleen Mcilwain Public Library of Gautier | — | 54 | D |
| Vancleave | Vancleave Public Library | — | 54 | — unincorporated |
| Ocean Springs | Ocean Springs Municipal Library | — | 45 | 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. Kathleen Mcilwain Public Library of Gautier is one branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 172,008 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 Gautier
Does Gautier have a public library?
Yes: Kathleen Mcilwain Public Library of Gautier, 2100 Library Lane, is a branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, which serves 172,008 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson-George Regional 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 Gautier’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Gautier’s civic life grade?
D Gautier is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #66 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 Gautier.
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.