Photo: David Jordan · CC BY-SA 3.0Monrovia’s library runs 20 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Monrovia Public Library serves Monrovia’s 38,087 residents. Last year it lent 217K books, movies and e-books and logged 118K visits.
The short version on Monrovia’s library
More library cards than residents
81,214 cards for 38,087 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 75% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 83% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Monrovia Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
38,000 people came to the library’s 765 programs last year: 1 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 78% of similar-size libraries. The print collection works hard: each item went out about 2.8 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 Monrovia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Monrovia is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #199 of 448 in California. Monrovia’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
143 community nonprofits are registered in Monrovia
3.8 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 (62 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 18 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Monrovia’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical California 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 Monrovia’s residents live; 2022.
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 Monrovia last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Monrovia Public Library serves 38,087 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 71 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
217K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 71K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
17,785 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Monrovia Public Library, 321 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Monrovia? 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 $1.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monrovia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 81,214 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Monrovia ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irwindale | Irwindale Public Library fine-free | 19.5 | 49 | C− |
| Arcadia | Arcadia Public Library | 17.8 | 60 | B |
| Monrovia | Monrovia Public Library | 5.7 | 45 | C |
| Mayflower Village | Live Oak Library fine-free | — | 60 | — unincorporated |
| Duarte | Duarte Library fine-free | — | 40 | C− |
| Bradbury | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| South Monrovia Island | None of its own | — | — | — 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 Monrovia
Does Monrovia have a public library?
Yes. Monrovia Public Library, 321 S. Myrtle Ave., serves Monrovia’s 38,087 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monrovia Public Library 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 Monrovia’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Monrovia’s civic life grade?
C Monrovia is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life, #199 of 448 in California. 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 Monrovia.
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.