Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0West Monroe’s library is a branch of Ouachita Parish Public Library, which lends less per resident than 70% of systems its size
West Monroe’s library is the Ouachita Valley Branch, a branch of Ouachita Parish Public Library, which serves 157,874 people and lent 465K items last year.
What stands out about Ouachita Valley Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind West Monroe’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, West Monroe is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #37 of 105 in Louisiana. West Monroe is graded on two of the three inputs. West Monroe’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
60 community nonprofits are registered in West Monroe
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of West 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 West 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.
2 places to borrow in West Monroe
Ouachita Valley Branch, 601 Mcmillan Road, West 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 West 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 West 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 West 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Monroe | Ouachita Valley Branch fine-free | — | 57 | C+ |
| Monroe | Ouachita Parish Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | C+ |
| Claiborne | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Brownsville | 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 Valley Branch is one branch of Ouachita Parish Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 157,874 people it serves.
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 West Monroe
Does West Monroe have a public library?
Yes: Ouachita Valley Branch, 601 Mcmillan Road, is a branch of Ouachita Parish Public Library, which serves 157,874 people. The branch 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 West 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 West Monroe’s civic life grade?
C+ West Monroe is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #37 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 West 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.