Sherman Line Rosenwald School · Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 4.0Magnolia’s library is a branch of Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System, which lends less per resident than 93% of systems its size
Magnolia’s library is the Magnolia Public Library, a branch of Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System, which serves 65,699 people and lent 56K items last year.
What Magnolia’s library is like
The Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System offered 313 programs last year, 4.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System spends $13 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Magnolia’s library is a branch of Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System, so they cover the whole system (65,699 people), not just the Magnolia branch.
What’s behind Magnolia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Magnolia is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. Magnolia is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Magnolia’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System spends $13 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$69K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Magnolia
1.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
3.6%
3.6% of Magnolia’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 Magnolia’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System serves 65,699 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,912 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
Magnolia Public Library, 230 South Cherry Street, Magnolia.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System branch.
New in Magnolia? 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 $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Magnolia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $858K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $858K 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 26,493 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnolia | Magnolia Public Library | — | 30 | D− |
| Fernwood | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Magnolia Public Library is one branch of Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 65,699 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 Magnolia
Does Magnolia have a public library?
Yes: Magnolia Public Library, 230 South Cherry Street, is a branch of Pike-Amite-Walthall Library System, which serves 65,699 people. The branch is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pike-Amite-Walthall 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 Magnolia’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Magnolia’s civic life grade?
D− Magnolia is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Magnolia.
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.