Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority · Public domainBenton’s library lends 8.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Marshall County Public Library serves 31,744 people in and around Benton. Last year it lent 390K books, movies and e-books and logged 114K visits.
The short version on Benton’s library
More library cards than residents
36,326 cards for 31,744 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. 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; Marshall County Public Library serves 31,744 people in and around Benton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Benton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Benton is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #21 of 126 in Kentucky. Benton 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Benton
3.9 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.4%
9.4% of Benton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Benton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Marshall County Public Library serves 31,744 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marshall County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
390K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
119,865 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
Find it
Marshall County Public Library, 1150 Birch Street, Benton.
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 Marshall County Public Library branch.
New in Benton? 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 $3.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Benton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 36,326 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Marshall County Public Library serves 31,744 people in and around Benton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Benton.
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 Benton
Does Benton have a public library?
Yes. Marshall County Public Library, 1150 Birch Street, serves 31,744 people in and around Benton (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marshall 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 Benton’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Benton’s civic life grade?
B+ Benton is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #21 of 126 in Kentucky. 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 Benton.
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.