Photo: Kevin magee · CC BY-SA 4.0Pearl’s library is a branch of Central Mississippi Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 81% of systems its size
Pearl’s library is the Pearl Public Library, a branch of Central Mississippi Regional Library, which serves 227,738 people and lent 596K items last year.
What Pearl’s library is like
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
The Central Mississippi Regional Library system ran 6,724 programs last year, about 129 a week. That’s 30 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 160,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Central Mississippi Regional Library system spends $11 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
80% of the people it serves carry a library card
181,918 cards for 227,738 people, or 80%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
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; Pearl’s library is a branch of Central Mississippi Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (227,738 people), not just the Pearl branch.
What’s behind Pearl’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pearl is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #59 of 85 in Mississippi. Pearl is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Pearl’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Central Mississippi Regional Library spends $11 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
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 →
68 community nonprofits are registered in Pearl
2.4 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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.9%
4.9% of Pearl’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 Pearl’s residents live; 2022.
About 73 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Central Mississippi Regional Library serves 227,738 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Central Mississippi Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
596K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
204,376 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Pearl Public Library, 2416 Old Brandon Road, Pearl.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Central Mississippi Regional Library branch.
New in Pearl? 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 $4.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pearl cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 181,918 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.
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. Pearl Public Library is one branch of Central Mississippi Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 227,738 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 Pearl
Does Pearl have a public library?
Yes: Pearl Public Library, 2416 Old Brandon Road, is a branch of Central Mississippi Regional Library, which serves 227,738 people. The branch is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Central Mississippi Regional 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 Pearl’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Pearl’s civic life grade?
D Pearl is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #59 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 Pearl.
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.