Photo: Yahala · CC BY-SA 3.0Bloomington’s library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Monroe County Public Library serves 139,718 people in and around Bloomington. Last year it lent 2M books, movies and e-books and logged 571K visits.
What Bloomington’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Monroe County Public Library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 9.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Monroe Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. Today’s library there has 135,000 square feet. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
The Bloomington branch is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Monroe County Public Library serves 139,718 people in and around Bloomington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bloomington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bloomington is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #26 of 571 in Indiana. Bloomington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
516 community nonprofits are registered in Bloomington
6.5 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 (89 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 27 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.8%
12.8% of Bloomington’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Bloomington’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
667,924 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Monroe County Public Library serves 139,718 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 211 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Monroe County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 16 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.
A National Register landmark since 1978
Monroe County Public Library, 303 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Monroe County Public Library branch.
New in Bloomington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Monroe Carnegie Library
Monroe Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 8, 1978. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical.
Monroe Carnegie Library, also known as Old Monroe Carnegie Library, is a historic Carnegie library located at Bloomington, Indiana. It was built in 1917, and is a one-story, rectangular, Neoclassical style limestone building on a raised basement. The Monroe County History Center is a history museum the historic library building that was established as a Carnegie library.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bloomington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $31M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 55,446 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomington | Monroe County Public Library fine-free | — | 67 | A+ |
| Bloomington Township | Monroe County Public Library fine-free | — | 67 | A+ |
| Richland Township | Ellettsville Branch fine-free | — | 62 | B |
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.
- System-wide. Monroe County Public Library serves 139,718 people in and around Bloomington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bloomington.
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 Bloomington
Does Bloomington have a public library?
Yes. Monroe County Public Library, 303 East Kirkwood Avenue, serves 139,718 people in and around Bloomington (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monroe County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bloomington’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 14.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Bloomington’s civic life grade?
A+ Bloomington is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Bloomington.
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; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.