Photo: Chris J · CC BY-SA 2.0Maricopa’s library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Maricopa Library & Cultural Center serves Maricopa’s 73,300 residents. Last year it lent 289K books, movies and e-books and logged 372K visits.
The short version on Maricopa’s library
People come to Maricopa Library & Cultural Center a lot
Maricopa Library & Cultural Center logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 3.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Maricopa Library & Cultural Center spends $12 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 88% of similar-size libraries. The print collection works hard: each item went out about 3.7 times last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Maricopa’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Maricopa is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #36 of 68 in Arizona. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($72K–$120K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
167 community nonprofits are registered in Maricopa
2.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (50 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.9%
4.9% of Maricopa’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.0% in the typical Arizona town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Maricopa’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 101 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Maricopa Library & Cultural Center serves 73,300 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
289K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 73K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.7 times last year, on average.
18,503 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Maricopa last year.
Find it
Maricopa Library & Cultural Center, 18160 N Maya Angelou Dr, Maricopa.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Maricopa? 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 $4.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Maricopa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $907K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $907K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 28,021 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casa Grande | Casa Grande Public Library fine-free | 5.5 | 56 | C− |
| Maricopa | Maricopa Library & Cultural Center | 3.9 | 55 | C |
| Ak-Chin Village | Ak-Chin Indian Community Library fine-free | — | 54 | — unincorporated |
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 Maricopa
Does Maricopa have a public library?
Yes. Maricopa Library & Cultural Center, 18160 N Maya Angelou Dr, serves Maricopa’s 73,300 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Maricopa Library & Cultural Center fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Maricopa’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Maricopa’s civic life grade?
C Maricopa is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #36 of 68 in Arizona. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Maricopa.
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.