Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Geraldine’s library is a branch of Chouteau County Library, which lends more per resident than 52% of systems its size
Geraldine’s library is the Geraldine Branch Library, a branch of Chouteau County Library, which serves 5,895 people and lent 29K items last year.
What stands out about Geraldine Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Geraldine’s civic life grade
Geraldine 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
Geraldine Branch Library, 254 Main St., Geraldine.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Chouteau County Library branch.
New in Geraldine? 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 Geraldine 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. Geraldine 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 Geraldine
Does Geraldine have a public library?
Yes: Geraldine Branch Library, 254 Main St., is a branch of Chouteau County Library, which serves 5,895 people. The branch is open about 24 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 Geraldine’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 Geraldine’s civic life grade?
Geraldine 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 Geraldine.
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.