Photo: Preservation Maryland · CC BY-SA 2.0Waldorf’s library is a branch of Charles County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 54% of systems its size
Waldorf’s library is the Waldorf West, a branch of Charles County Public Library, which serves 168,698 people and lent 739K items last year.
What stands out about Waldorf West
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Waldorf’s civic life grade
Waldorf 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 Charles County Public Library, 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 Waldorf
Waldorf is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
4.2%
4.2% of Waldorf’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 Waldorf’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 Waldorf
Waldorf West, 10405 O'Donnell Place, Waldorf.
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 Waldorf? 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 Waldorf
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 Waldorf 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waldorf | Waldorf West fine-free | — | 52 | — unincorporated |
| Accokeek | Accokeek Branch fine-free | — | 44 | — unincorporated |
| Bensville | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Brandywine | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Cedarville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Waldorf West 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 Waldorf
Does Waldorf have a public library?
Yes: Waldorf West, 10405 O'Donnell Place, 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 Waldorf’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 Waldorf’s civic life grade?
Waldorf 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 Charles County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Waldorf.
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.