Photo: kevin schuchmann · CC BY-SA 3.0Potosi’s library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Schreiner Memorial Library serves 9,216 people in and around Potosi. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
Potosi’s library, in brief
Open only about 17 hours a week
Schreiner Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Schreiner Memorial Library serves more than Potosi
The library’s service area covers 9,216 people in and around Potosi, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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.
What’s behind Potosi’s civic life grade
Potosi 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Schreiner Memorial Library serves 9,216 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
15,326 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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.
Find it
Potosi Branch, 103 N. Main St., Potosi.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Potosi? 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 $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Potosi cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $503K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $953K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $503K 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 3,756 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potosi | Potosi Branch fine-free | 6.5 | 17 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tennyson | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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 Potosi
Does Potosi have a public library?
Yes. Schreiner Memorial Library, 103 N. Main St., serves 9,216 people in and around Potosi (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Schreiner Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Potosi’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Potosi’s civic life grade?
Potosi 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 Potosi.
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.