Photo: Scott218 · CC BY-SA 4.0Arbutus’ library is a branch of Baltimore County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 89% of systems its size
Arbutus’s library is the Arbutus Branch, a branch of Baltimore County Public Library, which serves 849,316 people and lent 8.9M items last year.
What stands out about Arbutus Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Arbutus’ civic life grade
Arbutus isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Baltimore County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Arbutus
Arbutus is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.8%
5.8% of Arbutus’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.2% in the typical Maryland 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 Arbutus’ residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,042,250 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Baltimore County Public Library serves 849,316 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 157 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Baltimore County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 63 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
Arbutus Branch, 855 Sulphur Spring Road, Baltimore.
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 Baltimore County Public Library branch.
New in Arbutus? 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 $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arbutus cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $54M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $144M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54M 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 398,929 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | Enoch Pratt Central fine-free | 4.2 | 51 | C+ |
| Arbutus | Arbutus Branch fine-free | — | 62 | — unincorporated |
| Elkridge | Elkridge Branch fine-free | — | 60 | — unincorporated |
| Lansdowne | Lansdowne Branch fine-free | — | 59 | — unincorporated |
| Catonsville | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Ilchester | 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. Arbutus Branch is one branch of Baltimore County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 849,316 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 Arbutus
Does Arbutus have a public library?
Yes: Arbutus Branch, 855 Sulphur Spring Road, is a branch of Baltimore County Public Library, which serves 849,316 people. The branch is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Baltimore 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 Arbutus’ library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 10.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Arbutus’ civic life grade?
Arbutus isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Baltimore County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Arbutus.
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.