Photo: Matthew Binebrink · CC BY-SA 4.0Frederick’s library lends 8.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Frederick County Public Libraries serves 279,835 people in and around Frederick. Last year it lent 3.2M books, movies and e-books and logged 1M visits.
What Frederick’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Frederick County Public Libraries logs 3.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 8.3 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Frederick County Public Libraries ran 5,959 programs last year, about 115 a week. That’s 21 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 259,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 5,959 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 63 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Frederick County Public Libraries serves 279,835 people in and around Frederick, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Frederick’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Frederick is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #29 of 67 in Maryland. Frederick is graded on two of the three inputs. Frederick’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 →
452 community nonprofits are registered in Frederick
5.4 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 (113 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 32 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Frederick’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 Frederick’s residents live; 2022.
About 82 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Frederick County Public Libraries serves 279,835 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 134 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Frederick County Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
851,971 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
C Burr Artz Library, 110 East Patrick Street, Frederick.
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 Frederick County Public Libraries branch.
New in Frederick? 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Frederick cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $19M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $49M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $19M 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 152,137 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frederick | C Burr Artz Library fine-free | — | 59 | B |
| Ballenger Creek | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Linganore | 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. Frederick County Public Libraries serves 279,835 people in and around Frederick, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Frederick.
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 Frederick
Does Frederick have a public library?
Yes. Frederick County Public Libraries, 110 East Patrick Street, serves 279,835 people in and around Frederick (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Frederick County Public Libraries 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 Frederick’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 11.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Frederick’s civic life grade?
B Frederick is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #29 of 67 in Maryland. 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 Frederick.
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.