Photo: Dudemanfellabra · CC BY-SA 3.0Meridian’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library serves 70,527 people in and around Meridian. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
Meridian’s library, in brief
Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library offered 327 programs last year, 4.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 93% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library serves 70,527 people in and around Meridian, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Meridian’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Meridian is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #41 of 85 in Mississippi. Meridian is graded on two of the three inputs. Meridian’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library spends $17 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($27K–$46K) 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 →
151 community nonprofits are registered in Meridian
4.4 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 (66 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.5%
3.5% of Meridian’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 Meridian’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.
Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library serves 70,527 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,751 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library, 2517 Seventh Street, Meridian.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library branch.
New in Meridian? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Meridian cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $695K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 37,033 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian | Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library | — | 49 | C− |
| Marion | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Nellieburg | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library serves 70,527 people in and around Meridian, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Meridian.
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 Meridian
Does Meridian have a public library?
Yes. Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library, 2517 Seventh Street, serves 70,527 people in and around Meridian (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library 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 Meridian’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Meridian’s civic life grade?
C− Meridian is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #41 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 Meridian.
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.