Photo: Publichall · Public domainMount Sterling’s library runs 7.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Library serves 28,527 people in and around Mount Sterling. Last year it lent 137K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
What stands out about Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Mount Sterling’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Sterling is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #92 of 126 in Kentucky. Mount Sterling is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Sterling
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
6.7%
6.7% of Mount Sterling’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 Mount Sterling’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Library serves 28,527 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
137K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
25,413 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Library, 328 North Maysville Street, Mount Sterling.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Library branch.
New in Mount Sterling? 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 $1.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Sterling cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 16,607 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Library serves 28,527 people in and around Mount Sterling, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mount Sterling.
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 Mount Sterling
Does Mount Sterling have a public library?
Yes. Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Library, 328 North Maysville Street, serves 28,527 people in and around Mount Sterling (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County 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 Mount Sterling’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Mount Sterling’s civic life grade?
C− Mount Sterling is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #92 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 Mount Sterling.
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.