Marble’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Marble Public Library serves Marble’s 610 residents. Last year it lent 8,574 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,174 visits.
What Marble’s library is like
A small-town library
Marble Public Library serves 610 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Marble is a town of borrowers
Marble Public Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Marble Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Marble’s civic life grade
Marble 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,574 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,635 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
969 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Marble Public Library serves 610 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
79 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Marble Public Library, 302 Alice Avenue, Marble.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Marble? 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 $3.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marble cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $45K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $135K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $45K 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 199 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Marble ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calumet | Calumet Public Library | 24.1 | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Greenway Township | Calumet Public Library | 24.1 | 25 | C− |
| Marble | Marble Public Library fine-free | 14.1 | 22 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Taconite | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Marble
Does Marble have a public library?
Yes. Marble Public Library, 302 Alice Avenue, serves Marble’s 610 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marble 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 Marble’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 14.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Marble’s civic life grade?
Marble 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 Marble.
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.