Photo: Christopher Sayan · CC BY-SA 3.0New Carrollton’s library is a branch of Prince George's County Memorial Library System, which lends less per resident than 80% of systems its size
New Carrollton’s library is the New Carrollton Branch, a branch of Prince George's County Memorial Library System, which serves 955,306 people and lent 2.7M items last year.
The short version on New Carrollton’s library
Maryland pays a big share
28% of the budget comes from the state, and 70% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 69% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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; New Carrollton’s library is a branch of Prince George's County Memorial Library System, so they cover the whole system (955,306 people), not just the New Carrollton branch.
What’s behind New Carrollton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Carrollton is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. New Carrollton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; New Carrollton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($61K–$102K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in New Carrollton
1.9 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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.1%
2.1% of New Carrollton’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 New Carrollton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Prince George's County Memorial Library System serves 955,306 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Prince George's County Memorial Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
985,944 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 60 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
New Carrollton Branch, 7414 Riverdale Rd., New Carrollton.
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 Prince George's County Memorial Library System branch.
New in New Carrollton? 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 $1.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Carrollton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $42M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 624,938 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Carrollton | New Carrollton Branch fine-free | — | 47 | D− |
| Greenbelt | Greenbelt Branch fine-free | — | 47 | C+ |
| Woodlawn | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Seabrook | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| East Riverdale | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Landover Hills | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. New Carrollton Branch is one branch of Prince George's County Memorial Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 955,306 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 New Carrollton
Does New Carrollton have a public library?
Yes: New Carrollton Branch, 7414 Riverdale Rd., is a branch of Prince George's County Memorial Library System, which serves 955,306 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Prince George's County Memorial Library System 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 New Carrollton’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is New Carrollton’s civic life grade?
D− New Carrollton is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 New Carrollton.
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.