Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 4.0Murray’s library lends 5.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Calloway County Public Library serves 38,280 people in and around Murray. Last year it lent 254K books, movies and e-books and drew 8,993 people to its programs.
Murray’s library, in brief
Open about 68 hours a week
The Murray branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
82% of the people it serves carry a library card
31,386 cards for 38,280 people, or 82%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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; Calloway County Public Library serves 38,280 people in and around Murray, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Murray’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Murray is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #27 of 126 in Kentucky. Murray is graded on two of the three inputs. Murray’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 →
127 community nonprofits are registered in Murray
7.0 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 (31 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Murray’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 Murray’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Calloway County Public Library serves 38,280 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 124 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Calloway County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Visits aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 8,456 visits against 254K loans, so we leave the count out.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
254K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
59,107 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
194 programs a year
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
Calloway County Public Library, 710 Main Street, Murray.
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 Calloway County Public Library branch.
New in Murray? 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 $3.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Murray cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 31,386 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Calloway County Public Library serves 38,280 people in and around Murray, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Murray.
- Visits left out. This year’s visit count is far below what the library lends, so we leave it out.
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 Murray
Does Murray have a public library?
Yes. Calloway County Public Library, 710 Main Street, serves 38,280 people in and around Murray (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calloway 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 Murray’s library?
It lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 194 programs that drew 8,993 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Murray’s civic life grade?
B+ Murray is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #27 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 Murray.
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.