Photo: lucianvenutian · CC BY-SA 2.0Holly Springs’ library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Marshall County Library serves 34,123 people in and around Holly Springs. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
Holly Springs’s library, in brief
Marshall County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Marshall County Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $8 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Marshall County Library offered 59 programs last year, 1.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 59 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 10 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Mississippi pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 69% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Marshall County Library serves 34,123 people in and around Holly Springs, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Holly Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Holly Springs is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #38 of 85 in Mississippi. Holly Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. Holly Springs’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$57K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Holly Springs
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.5%
2.5% of Holly Springs’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical Mississippi 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 Holly Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Marshall County Library serves 34,123 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marshall County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,856 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
59 programs a year
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
Marshall County Library, 109 East Gholson Avenue, Holly Springs.
Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Marshall County Library branch.
New in Holly Springs? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Holly Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $262K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $458K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $262K 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 6,105 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Marshall County Library serves 34,123 people in and around Holly Springs, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Holly Springs.
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 Holly Springs
Does Holly Springs have a public library?
Yes. Marshall County Library, 109 East Gholson Avenue, serves 34,123 people in and around Holly Springs (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marshall County Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Holly Springs’ library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Holly Springs’ civic life grade?
C Holly Springs is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #38 of 85 in Mississippi. 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 Holly Springs.
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.