Big Pine Key’s library is a branch of Monroe County Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 62% of systems its size
Big Pine Key’s library is the Big Pine Key Branch, a branch of Monroe County Public Library System, which serves 84,145 people and lent 239K items last year.
What stands out about Big Pine Key Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Big Pine Key’s civic life grade
Big Pine Key isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Monroe County Public Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Big Pine Key
Big Pine Key is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
6.6%
6.6% of Big Pine Key’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Big Pine Key’s residents live; 2022.
About 22 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Monroe County Public Library System serves 84,145 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Monroe County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
239K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Big Pine Key’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Find it
Big Pine Key Branch, 213 Key Deer Boulevard, Big Pine Key.
No late fees. Good at every Monroe County Public Library System branch.
New in Big Pine Key? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Big Pine Key cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.6M 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 31,367 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. Big Pine Key Branch is one branch of Monroe County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 84,145 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 Big Pine Key
Does Big Pine Key have a public library?
Yes: Big Pine Key Branch, 213 Key Deer Boulevard, is a branch of Monroe County Public Library System, which serves 84,145 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monroe County Public Library System fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Big Pine Key’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 2.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Big Pine Key’s civic life grade?
Big Pine Key isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Monroe County Public Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Big Pine Key.
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.