Dr. Frank L. Leggett Public Library
Bassfield’s library is the Dr. Frank L. Leggett Public Library, a branch of South Mississippi Regional Library, which serves 35,193 people and lent 59K items last year.
What stands out about Dr. Frank L. Leggett Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
Strongest at cardholders
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
South Mississippi Regional Library serves 35,193 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole South Mississippi Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bassfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $536K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $536K 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 24,685 cardholders ÷ 12.
Find it
Dr. Frank L. Leggett Public Library, 161 General Robert E. Blount Boulev, Bassfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every South Mississippi Regional Library branch.
New in Bassfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,517 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
- System-wide. Dr. Frank L. Leggett Public Library is one branch of South Mississippi Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 35,193 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Bassfield.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.