Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Carroll’s library runs 51 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Carroll Public Library serves Carroll’s 15,435 residents. Last year it lent 94K print books and media and logged 52K visits.
What stands out about Carroll’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Carroll’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Carroll is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #112 of 138 in Iowa. Carroll is graded on two of the three inputs. Carroll’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
75 community nonprofits are registered in Carroll
7.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (17 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.
4.7%
4.7% of Carroll’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Carroll’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Carroll last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carroll Public Library serves 15,435 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
94K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 45K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
A National Register landmark since 1976
Carroll Public Library, 118 E 5th St., Carroll.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Library Building
Carnegie Library Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 13, 1976. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Prairie School.
The Carnegie Library Building in Carroll, Iowa, United States, is a building from 1905. The 60-by-38.5-foot (18.3 by 11.7 m) structure was designed in the Prairie School style by Omaha architect Thomas R. Kimball. The Carnegie Corporation of New York had accepted Carroll's application for a grant for $10,000 on February 12, 1903. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carroll cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $539K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $539K 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 6,006 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.
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 Carroll
Does Carroll have a public library?
Yes. Carroll Public Library, 118 E 5th St., serves Carroll’s 15,435 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carroll Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Carroll’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 6.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Carroll’s civic life grade?
B− Carroll is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #112 of 138 in Iowa. 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 Carroll.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.