Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Carrollton’s library runs 49 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Carroll County Public Library District serves 10,987 people in and around Carrollton. Last year it lent 71K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
Carrollton’s library, in brief
Programs draw a crowd
20,000 people came to the system’s 538 programs last year: 1.8 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 538 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 110 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Carroll County Public Library District spends $87 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 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; Carroll County Public Library District serves 10,987 people in and around Carrollton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Carrollton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Carrollton is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #45 of 126 in Kentucky. Carrollton is graded on two of the three inputs. Carrollton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Carrollton
7.5 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Carrollton’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 Carrollton’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carroll County Public Library District serves 10,987 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carroll County Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
71K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,344 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Carroll County Public Library District, 136 Court Street, Carrollton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Carroll County Public Library District branch.
New in Carrollton? 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 $1.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carrollton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $957K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $957K 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 5,006 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Carroll County Public Library District serves 10,987 people in and around Carrollton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Carrollton.
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 Carrollton
Does Carrollton have a public library?
Yes. Carroll County Public Library District, 136 Court Street, serves 10,987 people in and around Carrollton (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carroll County Public Library District 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 Carrollton’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Carrollton’s civic life grade?
B− Carrollton is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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 Carrollton.
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.