Photo: Shannon McGee · CC BY-SA 2.0Mentone’s library logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Moon Lake Library serves Mentone’s 322 residents. Last year it lent 4,283 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,987 visits.
The short version on Mentone’s library
More library cards than residents
950 cards for 322 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 ↓
Mentone uses its library more than almost any town its size
Moon Lake Library logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
42% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 56%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Moon Lake Library serves 322 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Moon Lake Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Mentone’s civic life grade
Mentone 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 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Moon Lake Library serves 322 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4,283 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,652 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
323 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
62 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.
Find it
Moon Lake Library, 4607 Al Highway 117, Mentone.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mentone? 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 $2.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mentone cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $24K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $71K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $24K 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 950 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mentone | Moon Lake Library fine-free | 13.3 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Valley Head | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Mentone’s 5,987 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Mentone
Does Mentone have a public library?
Yes. Moon Lake Library, 4607 Al Highway 117, serves Mentone’s 322 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Moon Lake 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 Mentone’s library?
It logged 18.6 visits and lent 13.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mentone’s civic life grade?
Mentone 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 Mentone.
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.