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2016-10-13 10 10 35 View west along Maryland State Route 107 (Fisher Avenue) at Norris Road in Poolesville, Montgomery County, MarylandPhoto: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Maggie Nightingale Branch · part of Montgomery County Public Libraries

Poolesville’s library is a branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries, which lends more per resident than 84% of systems its size

Poolesville’s library is the Maggie Nightingale Branch, a branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries, which serves 1,054,827 people and lent 11M items last year.

19633 Fisher Ave., Poolesville 20837 · about 46 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 74% of U.S. towns · #14 of 67 in Maryland. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (240) 773-9550 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
11M
10.4 per resident
Visits a year
3.5M
3.4 per resident · Above typical (2.1)
Programs & events
9,860
about 190 a week · 271K attended
Cardholders
61%
648,147 cards
Open
46 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Poolesville’s library is like

More than half the print loans are for kids

Children’s books and media are 62% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓

Big on e-books and audiobooks

Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 34% of all loans. 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; Poolesville’s library is a branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries, so they cover the whole system (1,054,827 people), not just the Poolesville branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Poolesville’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Poolesville is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #14 of 67 in Maryland. Poolesville is graded on two of the three inputs. Poolesville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Poolesville’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureACommunity nonprofits6.8 per 1,000 residents · MD towns 4.1 · U.S. 3.7B−Volunteering7.3% of adults 25–44 · MD towns 6.2% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 74%
FewerMore
Maryland towns we grade (67)Ahead of 80%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $154K–$257K (667)Ahead of 61%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Poolesville is small (5,942 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

39 community nonprofits are registered in Poolesville

6.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.35 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation50.87 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans50.87 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services71.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education30.52 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health30.52 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals50.87 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other91.56 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.

Volunteering

7.3%

7.3% of Poolesville’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 Poolesville’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 60 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Poolesville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–52,027
Ages 6–111,094
Teens879
Adults4,221
All ages1,639
Little ones
39

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

4.5M
kids’ books & media borrowed
271K
people at programs
9,860
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 3.4 visits · typical 2.1Higher than 83%
Borrowing per resident 6.9 print items · typical 3.2Higher than 84%
Digital borrowing 3.5 e-items · typical 1.4Higher than 85%
Kids’ borrowing 4.3 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 88%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 61%
Programs offered 9.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 52%
Cardholders 61% of residents · typical 41%Higher than 80%
Spending $44 per resident · typical $36Higher than 61%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Montgomery County Public Libraries serves 1,054,827 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 165 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Montgomery County Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.

3.5M
visits
3.4 per resident
11M
loans, print + digital
10.4 per resident
9,860
programs & events
271K attended
648K
library cards
61% of people served
Every open hour165items borrowed
Every week5,209people at a program
Every day29,509Wi-Fi sessions
393 staff (full-time equivalent)667 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

11M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

11Mloans
Books & media (adults) 25%Kids’ books & media 41%E-books, audio & streaming 34%
From your couch

3,673,794 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Maggie Nightingale Branch, 19633 Fisher Ave., Poolesville.

Directions(240) 773-9550
46
hours open a week
6,250
square feet
With a card

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 Montgomery County Public Libraries branch.

New in Poolesville? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.07 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Poolesville cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
1
Your card saves you about
$384
a year at retail prices · $32 a month

Who pays for it
$44 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $47M.

Local taxes 90%State 8%Federal 0%Gifts & other 2%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $191M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47M 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 648,147 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Maggie Nightingale Branch is one branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,054,827 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 Poolesville

Does Poolesville have a public library?

Yes: Maggie Nightingale Branch, 19633 Fisher Ave., is a branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries, which serves 1,054,827 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Montgomery 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 Poolesville’s library?

It logged 3.4 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Poolesville’s civic life grade?

B+ Poolesville is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Poolesville.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.