Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Matthews’ library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Matthews Public Library serves 1,861 people in and around Matthews. Last year it lent 1,253 books, movies and e-books and logged 884 visits.
What Matthews’s library is like
Matthews Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Matthews Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $7 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 9 hours a week
Matthews Public Library keeps short hours: about 9 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Matthews Public Library offered 1 programs last year, 0.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Matthews Public Library serves 1,861 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Matthews Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Matthews’ civic life grade
Matthews isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Matthews Public Library serves 1,861 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,253 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,876 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
1 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Matthews Public Library, 816 Wisconsin Ave, Matthews.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Matthews? The Handbook →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 $1.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Matthews cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $13K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $20K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13K 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 259 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Matthews
Does Matthews have a public library?
Yes. Matthews Public Library, 816 Wisconsin Ave, serves 1,861 people in and around Matthews (the survey’s count) and is open about 9 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Matthews Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Matthews’ library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Matthews’ civic life grade?
Matthews isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Matthews.
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.