Photo: Pubdog · Public domainCharlotte Hall’s library is a branch of St. Mary's County Library, which lends more per resident than 84% of systems its size
Charlotte Hall’s library is the Charlotte Hall Branch, a branch of St. Mary's County Library, which serves 114,468 people and lent 1M items last year.
What Charlotte Hall’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 58% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Maryland pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 71% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Charlotte Hall’s library is a branch of St. Mary's County Library, so they cover the whole system (114,468 people), not just the Charlotte Hall branch.
What’s behind Charlotte Hall’s civic life grade
Charlotte Hall 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 St. Mary's County 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 Charlotte Hall
Charlotte Hall is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
8.0%
8.0% of Charlotte Hall’s 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 Charlotte Hall’s residents live; 2022.
About 19 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
St. Mary's County Library serves 114,468 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 109 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. Mary's County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
207,249 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Charlotte Hall Branch, 37600 New Market Road, Charlotte Hall.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. Mary's County Library branch.
New in Charlotte Hall? 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 $2.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Charlotte Hall cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.2M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 32,803 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Hall | Charlotte Hall Branch | — | 58 | — unincorporated |
| Mechanicsville | 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. Charlotte Hall Branch is one branch of St. Mary's County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 114,468 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 Charlotte Hall
Does Charlotte Hall have a public library?
Yes: Charlotte Hall Branch, 37600 New Market Road, is a branch of St. Mary's County Library, which serves 114,468 people. The branch is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. Mary's County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Charlotte Hall’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 8.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Charlotte Hall’s civic life grade?
Charlotte Hall 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 St. Mary's County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Charlotte Hall.
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.