Marshville’s library is a branch of Union County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 51% of systems its size
Marshville’s library is the Lois Morgan Edwards Memorial Library, a branch of Union County Public Library, which serves 257,682 people and lent 1.1M items last year.
What Marshville’s library is like
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 1,358 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 11 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 59% 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; Marshville’s library is a branch of Union County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (257,682 people), not just the Marshville branch.
What’s behind Marshville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Marshville is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #205 of 234 in North Carolina. Marshville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Marshville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Marshville
2.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.5%
3.5% of Marshville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.2% in the typical North Carolina 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 Marshville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Union County Public Library serves 257,682 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Union County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
241,611 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 18 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
Lois Morgan Edwards Memorial Library, 414 Hasty St., Marshville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Union County Public Library branch.
New in Marshville? 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 $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marshville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.5M 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 80,052 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lois Morgan Edwards Memorial Library is one branch of Union County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 257,682 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 Marshville
Does Marshville have a public library?
Yes: Lois Morgan Edwards Memorial Library, 414 Hasty St., is a branch of Union County Public Library, which serves 257,682 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Union County 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 Marshville’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Marshville’s civic life grade?
D Marshville is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #205 of 234 in North Carolina. 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 Marshville.
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.