Photo: Nyttend · Public domainLa Vale’s library is a branch of Allegany County Library System, which lends less per resident than 56% of systems its size
La Vale’s library is the Lavale Public Library, a branch of Allegany County Library System, which serves 67,729 people and lent 287K items last year.
What stands out about Lavale Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind La Vale’s civic life grade
La Vale 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 Allegany County Library System, 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 La Vale
La Vale is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
6.6%
6.6% of La Vale’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 Vale’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Allegany County Library System serves 67,729 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Allegany County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
287K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
67,297 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Lavale Public Library, 815 National Highway, Lavale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Allegany County Library System branch.
New in La Vale? 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 $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average La Vale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 22,073 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lavale Public Library is one branch of Allegany County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 67,729 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 Vale
Does La Vale have a public library?
Yes: Lavale Public Library, 815 National Highway, is a branch of Allegany County Library System, which serves 67,729 people. The branch is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Allegany County Library System 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 La Vale’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is La Vale’s civic life grade?
La Vale 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 Allegany County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in La Vale.
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.