Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Whitley City’s library runs 43 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Mccreary County Public Library serves 17,050 people in and around Whitley City. Last year it lent 66K books, movies and e-books and logged 50K visits.
What stands out about Mccreary County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Whitley City’s civic life grade
Whitley City isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mccreary County Public Library serves 17,050 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mccreary County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
66K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,376 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mccreary County Public Library, 6 North Main Street, Whitley City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mccreary County Public Library branch.
New in Whitley City? 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 $2.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitley City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $452K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $452K 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 8,325 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitley City | Mccreary County Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stearns | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Mccreary County Public Library serves 17,050 people in and around Whitley City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Whitley City.
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 Whitley City
Does Whitley City have a public library?
Yes. Mccreary County Public Library, 6 North Main Street, serves 17,050 people in and around Whitley City (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mccreary 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 Whitley City’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Whitley City’s civic life grade?
Whitley City isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Whitley City.
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.