Maben’s library is a branch of Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 76% of systems its size
Maben’s library is the Maben Public Library, a branch of Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System, which serves 51,203 people and lent 101K items last year.
What stands out about Maben Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Maben’s civic life grade
Maben 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System serves 51,203 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
101K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,503 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 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
Maben Public Library, 3982 Second Avenue, Maben.
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 Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System branch.
New in Maben? 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 $2.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Maben cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $764K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $764K 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 13,667 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Maben Public Library is one branch of Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 51,203 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 Maben
Does Maben have a public library?
Yes: Maben Public Library, 3982 Second Avenue, is a branch of Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System, which serves 51,203 people. The branch is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System 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 Maben’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Maben’s civic life grade?
Maben 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 Maben.
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.