Photo: Nahtzen · CC BY-SA 4.0Manly’s library logs 4.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Manly Public Library serves Manly’s 1,729 residents. Last year it lent 7,683 print books and media and logged 8,008 visits.
Manly’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Manly Public Library serves 1,729 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Manly Public Library holds 21,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Manly’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Manly is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Manly is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Manly’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Manly
8.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.1%
11.1% of Manly’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 Manly’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Manly Public Library serves 1,729 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
7,683 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
63 programs a year
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 Manly last year.
Find it
Manly Public Library, 127 S Grant St., Manly.
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 $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Manly cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $125K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $143K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $125K 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 1,186 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 Manly
Does Manly have a public library?
Yes. Manly Public Library, 127 S Grant St., serves Manly’s 1,729 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Manly Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Manly’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 4.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Manly’s civic life grade?
A+ Manly is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Manly.
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.