Menter Farmstead · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Big Springs’ library runs 2.5 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Big Springs Public Library serves Big Springs’s 401 residents. Last year it lent 679 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,124 visits.
What Big Springs’s library is like
Open only about 9 hours a week
Big Springs Public Library keeps short hours: about 9 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Big Springs Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Big Springs Public Library offered 1 programs last year, 2.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Big Springs Public Library serves 401 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people Big Springs Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Big Springs’ civic life grade
Big Springs 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Big Springs Public Library serves 401 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
679 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
1 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Big Springs last year.
Find it
Big Springs Public Library, 400 Pine Street, Big Springs.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Big Springs? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Big Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $28K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $28K 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 47 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Big Springs Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Springs
Does Big Springs have a public library?
Yes. Big Springs Public Library, 400 Pine Street, serves Big Springs’ 401 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 9 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Big Springs Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Big Springs’ library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Big Springs’ civic life grade?
Big Springs 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 Springs.
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.