McBain’s library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mcbain Community Library serves 5,757 people in and around McBain. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
McBain’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
100% of the 346 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
5,875 cards for 5,757 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 78% of similar-size libraries. 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; Mcbain Community Library serves 5,757 people in and around McBain, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind McBain’s civic life grade
McBain isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mcbain Community Library serves 5,757 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mcbain Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,008 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Mcbain Community Library, 107 East Maple Street, Mcbain.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mcbain Community Library branch.
New in McBain? 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 $3.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average McBain cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $171K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $571K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $171K 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 5,875 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McBain | Mcbain Community Library | — | 51 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Richland Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Riverside Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Mcbain Community Library serves 5,757 people in and around McBain, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just McBain.
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 McBain
Does McBain have a public library?
Yes. Mcbain Community Library, 107 East Maple Street, serves 5,757 people in and around McBain (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mcbain Community Library 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 McBain’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 6.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is McBain’s civic life grade?
McBain isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in McBain.
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.