Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0Kingston’s library is a branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Kingston’s library is the Kingston Community Library, a branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, which serves 45,292 people and lent 96K items last year.
What Kingston’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 77% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 29%. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Kingston branch keeps short hours: about 20 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; Kingston’s library is a branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, so they cover the whole system (45,292 people), not just the Kingston branch.
What’s behind Kingston’s civic life grade
Kingston 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 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Carroll and Madison Library System serves 45,292 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carroll and Madison Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
96K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Kingston Community Library, 120 Madison 2605, Kingston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Carroll and Madison Library System branch.
New in Kingston? 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 $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kingston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M budget.
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 15,164 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.
- System-wide. Kingston Community Library is one branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 45,292 people it serves.
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 Kingston
Does Kingston have a public library?
Yes: Kingston Community Library, 120 Madison 2605, is a branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, which serves 45,292 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Kingston’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 2.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Kingston’s civic life grade?
Kingston 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 Kingston.
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.