Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0La Plata’s library is a branch of Charles County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 54% of systems its size
La Plata’s library is the La Plata Branch, a branch of Charles County Public Library, which serves 168,698 people and lent 739K items last year.
What stands out about La Plata Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind La Plata’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, La Plata is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #25 of 67 in Maryland. La Plata is graded on two of the three inputs. La Plata’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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in La Plata
5.2 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of La Plata’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 La Plata’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Charles County Public Library serves 168,698 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 65 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Charles County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
739K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
160,894 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 18 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.
2 places to borrow in La Plata
La Plata Branch, 2 Garrett Avenue, La Plata.
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 Charles County Public Library branch.
New in La Plata? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Charles County Public Library branches in La Plata
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average La Plata cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.4M 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 79,024 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. La Plata Branch is one branch of Charles County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 168,698 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 La Plata
Does La Plata have a public library?
Yes: La Plata Branch, 2 Garrett Avenue, is a branch of Charles County Public Library, which serves 168,698 people. The branch is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Charles 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 La Plata’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is La Plata’s civic life grade?
B La Plata is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 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 La Plata.
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.