Photo: TheLionHasSeen · CC BY-SA 4.0Monroe’s library runs 24 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Ouachita Parish Public Library serves 157,874 people in and around Monroe from 3 locations. Last year it lent 465K books, movies and e-books and logged 414K visits.
What stands out about Ouachita Parish Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Monroe’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Monroe is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #35 of 105 in Louisiana. Monroe is graded on two of the three inputs. Monroe’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 →
301 community nonprofits are registered in Monroe
6.4 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 (74 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.3%
3.3% of Monroe’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical Louisiana 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 Monroe’s residents live; 2022.
About 43 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ouachita Parish Public Library serves 157,874 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ouachita Parish Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
465K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
126,503 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Monroe
Ouachita Parish Public Library, 1800 Stubbs Avenue, Monroe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ouachita Parish Public Library branch.
New in Monroe? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Ouachita Parish Public Library branches in Monroe
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monroe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.8M 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 38,633 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | Ouachita Parish Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | C+ |
| Richwood | Ollie Burns Branch fine-free | — | 57 | D− |
| West Monroe | Ouachita Valley Branch fine-free | — | 57 | C+ |
| Lakeshore | 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. Ouachita Parish Public Library serves 157,874 people in and around Monroe, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Monroe.
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 Monroe
Does Monroe have a public library?
Yes. Ouachita Parish Public Library, 1800 Stubbs Avenue, serves 157,874 people in and around Monroe (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ouachita Parish 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 Monroe’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Monroe’s civic life grade?
C+ Monroe is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #35 of 105 in Louisiana. 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 Monroe.
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.