Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Mead’s library runs 172 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Mead Public Library serves Mead’s 633 residents. Last year it lent 3,299 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,370 visits.
What Mead’s library is like
A small-town library
Mead Public Library serves 633 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. 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 ↓
47% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 47% of loans, more per resident than at 81% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 53%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
74% of the 109 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 24 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 57% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Mead’s civic life grade
Mead 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 →
109 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Mead last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mead Public Library serves 633 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
47% of borrowing is digital
3,299 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,814 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,561 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mead Public Library, 316 South Vine, Mead.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mead? 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 $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mead cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $45K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $53K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $45K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 419 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Mead
Does Mead have a public library?
Yes. Mead Public Library, 316 South Vine, serves Mead’s 633 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mead Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mead’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mead’s civic life grade?
Mead 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 Mead.
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.