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Palmetto ArmoryPalmetto Armory · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0
Palmetto Branch · part of Manatee County Public Library System

Palmetto’s library is a branch of Manatee County Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 60% of systems its size

Palmetto’s library is the Palmetto Branch, a branch of Manatee County Public Library System, which serves 455,195 people and lent 1.2M items last year.

923 Sixth Street West, Palmetto 34221 · about 62 hours a week
C−Civic lifeAhead of 22% of U.S. towns · #144 of 273 in Florida. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (941) 722-3333 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
1.2M
2.7 per resident
Visits a year
811K
1.8 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
3,944
about 76 a week · 97K attended
Cardholders
28%
126,030 cards
Open
62 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Palmetto Branch

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

A Wi-Fi hubFine-freeOpen long hoursPart of a bigger system
Civic life grade

What’s behind Palmetto’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palmetto is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #144 of 273 in Florida. Palmetto is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Palmetto’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

C−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Palmetto’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureB−Community nonprofits3.6 per 1,000 residents · FL towns 3.3 · U.S. 3.7C−Volunteering5.2% of adults 25–44 · FL towns 5.6% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 22%
FewerMore
Florida towns we grade (273)Ahead of 47%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $47K–$78K (8,210)Ahead of 21%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

49 community nonprofits are registered in Palmetto

3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.10 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation70.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans90.68 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services80.60 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education90.65 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health40.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals30.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other70.49 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.

Volunteering

5.2%

5.2% of Palmetto’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 Palmetto’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 5 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.8 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 64%
Borrowing per resident 2.7 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 60%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 51%
Programs offered 8.7 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 56%
Cardholders 28% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 76%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Manatee County Public Library System serves 455,195 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

A year at Manatee County Public Library System

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Manatee County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.

811K
visits
1.8 per resident
1.2M
loans, print + digital
2.7 per resident
3,944
programs & events
97K attended
126K
library cards
28% of people served
Every week1,872people at a program
Every day2,016Wi-Fi sessions
105 staff (full-time equivalent)82 public computers

Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.

What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

1.2M 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 Palmetto’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

Kids & programs

About 24 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Palmetto →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5930
Ages 6–11319
Teens272
Adults2,252
All ages171
Little ones
17.9

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

97K
people at programs
3,944
programs
The building

Find it

Palmetto Branch, 923 Sixth Street West, Palmetto.

Directions(941) 722-3333
62
hours open a week
12,700
square feet
With a card

No late fees. Good at every Manatee County Public Library System branch.

New in Palmetto? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palmetto cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

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 126,030 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

Memphis: no library of its ownEllenton: no library of its ownMemphisEllentonPalmetto
12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
PalmettoPalmetto Branch fine-free—62C−
MemphisNone of its own——— unincorporated
EllentonNone 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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
  • Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
  • System-wide. Palmetto Branch is one branch of Manatee County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 455,195 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 Palmetto

Does Palmetto have a public library?

Yes: Palmetto Branch, 923 Sixth Street West, is a branch of Manatee County Public Library System, which serves 455,195 people. The branch is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Manatee County Public Library System fine-free?

Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Palmetto’s library?

It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Palmetto’s civic life grade?

C− Palmetto is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #144 of 273 in Florida. 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 Palmetto.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.