Photo: J.B. Chandler · CC BY-SA 3.0Big Sandy’s library is a branch of Chouteau County Library, which lends more per resident than 52% of systems its size
Big Sandy’s library is the Big Sandy Branch Library, a branch of Chouteau County Library, which serves 5,895 people and lent 29K items last year.
What stands out about Big Sandy Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Big Sandy’s civic life grade
Big Sandy isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 7 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Chouteau County Library serves 5,895 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chouteau County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,240 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Big Sandy Branch Library, 60 Johannes East, Big Sandy.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Chouteau County Library branch.
New in Big Sandy? 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 $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Big Sandy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $310K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $529K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $310K 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 1,761 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Big Sandy Branch Library is one branch of Chouteau County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 5,895 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 Big Sandy
Does Big Sandy have a public library?
Yes: Big Sandy Branch Library, 60 Johannes East, is a branch of Chouteau County Library, which serves 5,895 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chouteau County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Big Sandy’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Big Sandy’s civic life grade?
Big Sandy isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Big Sandy.
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.