Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Ripley’s library is a branch of Northeast Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 80% of systems its size
Ripley’s library is the Ripley Public Library, a branch of Northeast Regional Library, which serves 99,064 people and lent 167K items last year.
What Ripley’s library is like
The Northeast Regional Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Northeast Regional Library system records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $9 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Northeast Regional Library system offered 409 programs last year, 4.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Mississippi pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 67% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Northeast Regional Library system spends $9 per resident, less than 97% 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; Ripley’s library is a branch of Northeast Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (99,064 people), not just the Ripley branch.
What’s behind Ripley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ripley is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #74 of 85 in Mississippi. Ripley is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Ripley’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Northeast Regional Library spends $9 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Ripley
2.0 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.7%
3.7% of Ripley’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 Ripley’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.
Northeast Regional Library serves 99,064 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northeast Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
167K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
21,136 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Ripley Public Library, 308 North Commerce Street, Ripley.
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 Northeast Regional Library branch.
New in Ripley? 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 $2.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ripley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $879K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $879K 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 45,051 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ripley Public Library is one branch of Northeast Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 99,064 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 Ripley
Does Ripley have a public library?
Yes: Ripley Public Library, 308 North Commerce Street, is a branch of Northeast Regional Library, which serves 99,064 people. The branch is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northeast Regional Library 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 Ripley’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ripley’s civic life grade?
D− Ripley is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #74 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 Ripley.
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.