Photo: Adam Moss · CC BY-SA 2.0Monterey’s library runs 81 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library serves 994 people in and around Monterey. Last year it lent 4,398 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,250 visits.
What Monterey’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,365 cards for 994 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library spends $150 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library serves 994 people in and around Monterey, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Monterey’s civic life grade
Monterey 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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monterey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $150K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $73K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $150K 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 1,365 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library serves 994 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,398 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,487 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
81 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library, 6260 East Main Street, Monterey.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library branch.
New in Monterey? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library serves 994 people in and around Monterey, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Monterey.
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 Monterey
Does Monterey have a public library?
Yes. Monterey-Tippecanoe Township Public Library, 6260 East Main Street, serves 994 people in and around Monterey (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monterey-Tippecanoe Township 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 Monterey’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Monterey’s civic life grade?
Monterey 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 Monterey.
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.