Photo: Nils Huenerfuerst · CC BY 4.0Maysville’s library runs 42 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Mason County Public Library serves 16,841 people in and around Maysville. Last year it lent 103K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
Maysville’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
17,039 cards for 16,841 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
19,000 people came to the system’s 700 programs last year: 1.1 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; Mason County Public Library serves 16,841 people in and around Maysville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Maysville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Maysville is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #55 of 126 in Kentucky. Maysville is graded on two of the three inputs. Maysville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$49K) it does better, ahead of 56%.
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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in Maysville
7.2 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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.1%
4.1% of Maysville’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 Maysville’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
Mason County Public Library serves 16,841 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mason County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
103K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,838 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mason County Public Library, 218 East Third Street, Maysville.
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 Mason County Public Library branch.
New in Maysville? 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 $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Maysville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $789K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $789K 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 17,039 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maysville | Mason County Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | C+ |
| Huntington Township | Aberdeen Branch | — | 38 | D |
| Aberdeen | Aberdeen Branch | — | 38 | D |
| Union Township | Union Township Public Library | — | 54 | B+ |
| Ripley | Union Township Public Library | — | 54 | 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. Mason County Public Library serves 16,841 people in and around Maysville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Maysville.
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 Maysville
Does Maysville have a public library?
Yes. Mason County Public Library, 218 East Third Street, serves 16,841 people in and around Maysville (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mason 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 Maysville’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Maysville’s civic life grade?
C+ Maysville is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #55 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 Maysville.
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.