Photo: Beckycafferylepage · CC BY-SA 4.0Monroe’s library runs 5.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Union County Public Library serves 257,682 people in and around Monroe. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 362K visits.
Monroe’s library, in brief
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; Union County Public Library serves 257,682 people in and around Monroe, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Monroe’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Monroe is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #159 of 234 in North Carolina. Monroe is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Monroe’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$91K) 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 →
124 community nonprofits are registered in Monroe
3.4 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 (47 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.0%
4.0% of Monroe’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 Monroe’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
Union County Public Library, 316 E Windsor St., Monroe.
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 Monroe? 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 Monroe 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.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | Union County Public Library | — | 56 | D |
| Indian Trail | Union West Regional Library | — | 56 | C− |
| Wesley Chapel | Waxhaw Library | — | 56 | C− |
| Unionville | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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.
- System-wide. Union County Public Library serves 257,682 people in and around Monroe, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Monroe.
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 Monroe
Does Monroe have a public library?
Yes. Union County Public Library, 316 E Windsor St., serves 257,682 people in and around Monroe (the survey’s count) and 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 Monroe’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 Monroe’s civic life grade?
D Monroe is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #159 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 Monroe.
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.