Photo: Ceh2624 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lost Creek’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Southern Area Public Library serves 359 people in and around Lost Creek. Last year it lent 2,538 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,720 visits.
What Lost Creek’s library is like
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Southern Area Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 7% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Southern Area Public Library spends $135 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; Southern Area Public Library serves 359 people in and around Lost Creek, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Lost Creek’s civic life grade
Lost Creek 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Southern Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Southern Area Public Library serves 359 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,538 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Lost Creek’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
51 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Southern Area Public Library, 120 East Main Street, Lost Creek.
No late fees. Good at every Southern Area Public Library branch.
New in Lost Creek? 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 $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lost Creek cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $48K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $52K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $48K 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 26 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Southern Area Public Library serves 359 people in and around Lost Creek, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lost Creek.
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 Lost Creek
Does Lost Creek have a public library?
Yes. Southern Area Public Library, 120 East Main Street, serves 359 people in and around Lost Creek (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Southern Area Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lost Creek’s library?
It logged 13.1 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lost Creek’s civic life grade?
Lost Creek 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 Lost Creek.
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.