Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Carrollton’s library runs 90 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Carrollton Public Library serves Carrollton’s 3,514 residents. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
Carrollton’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
4,622 cards for 3,514 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 ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
61% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 36%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
6,350 people came to the library’s 316 programs last year: 1.8 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 93% 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.
What’s behind Carrollton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Carrollton is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #6 of 229 in Missouri. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Carrollton’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Carrollton
11.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.3%
12.3% of Carrollton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri 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 Carrollton’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Carrollton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Carrollton Public Library serves 3,514 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
5,353 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Carrollton Public Library, One N Folger St., Carrollton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in 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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carrollton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $278K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $575K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $278K 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 4,622 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Carrollton Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Carrollton
Does Carrollton have a public library?
Yes. Carrollton Public Library, One N Folger St., serves Carrollton’s 3,514 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carrollton Public 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 Carrollton’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 9.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Carrollton’s civic life grade?
A+ Carrollton is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 of 229 in Missouri. 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 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.