Rush Springs’ library runs 16 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Rush Springs-Glover Spencer Memorial Library serves Rush Springs’s 1,008 residents. Last year it lent 3,303 print books and media and logged 2,000 visits.
What Rush Springs’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,381 cards for 1,008 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Rush Springs-Glover Spencer Memorial Library serves 1,008 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 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 ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 64% 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 Rush Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rush Springs is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. Rush Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Rush Springs’ count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$56K) 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 →
Rush Springs has few registered community nonprofits
0.9 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.7%
10.7% of Rush Springs’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.7% in the typical Oklahoma 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 Rush Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rush Springs-Glover Spencer Memorial Library serves 1,008 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3,303 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
16 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 Rush Springs last year.
Find it
Rush Springs-Glover Spencer Memorial Library, 100 S 6th St., Rush Springs.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rush Springs? 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 $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rush Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $42K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $60K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42K 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 1,381 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Rush Springs
Does Rush Springs have a public library?
Yes. Rush Springs-Glover Spencer Memorial Library, 100 S 6th St., serves Rush Springs’ 1,008 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rush Springs-Glover Spencer Memorial 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 Rush Springs’ library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 3.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Rush Springs’ civic life grade?
C+ Rush Springs is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Rush 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.