Photo: Ente75 · Public domainPicayune’s library is a branch of Pearl River County Library System, which lends less per resident than 89% of systems its size
Picayune’s library is the Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library, a branch of Pearl River County Library System, which serves 57,978 people and lent 65K items last year.
What Picayune’s library is like
The Pearl River County Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Pearl River County Library System records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1 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
The Pearl River County Library System offered 214 programs last year, 3.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. 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; Picayune’s library is a branch of Pearl River County Library System, so they cover the whole system (57,978 people), not just the Picayune branch.
What’s behind Picayune’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Picayune is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #53 of 85 in Mississippi. Picayune 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.
Pearl River County Library System spends $17 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($31K–$52K) 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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Picayune
2.3 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.8%
5.8% of Picayune’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 Picayune’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pearl River County Library System serves 57,978 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pearl River County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
65K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,888 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library, 900 Goodyear Boulevard, Picayune.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pearl River County Library System branch.
New in Picayune? 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 $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Picayune cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $965K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $965K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 8,110 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picayune | Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library fine-free | — | 37 | D |
| Nicholson | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Hide-A-Way Lake | 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. Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library is one branch of Pearl River County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 57,978 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 Picayune
Does Picayune have a public library?
Yes: Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library, 900 Goodyear Boulevard, is a branch of Pearl River County Library System, which serves 57,978 people. The branch is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pearl River County Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Picayune’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Picayune’s civic life grade?
D Picayune is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #53 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 Picayune.
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.