Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainLaurel’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Laurel Community Learning Center serves Laurel’s 948 residents. Last year it lent 6,166 books, movies and e-books and logged 653 visits.
Laurel’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,102 cards for 948 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Laurel Community Learning Center serves 948 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 61 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 90% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 19 items per child in Laurel last year. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Laurel Community Learning Center records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 96% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 4.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Laurel’s civic life grade
Laurel 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 →
30 programs a year
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 Laurel last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Laurel Community Learning Center serves 948 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
6,166 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,709 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Laurel Community Learning Center, 502 Wakefield St., Laurel.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Laurel? 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 $2.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Laurel cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $35K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $89K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35K 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 1,102 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. Laurel Community Learning Center 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 Laurel
Does Laurel have a public library?
Yes. Laurel Community Learning Center, 502 Wakefield St., serves Laurel’s 948 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Laurel Community Learning Center 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 Laurel’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Laurel’s civic life grade?
Laurel 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 Laurel.
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.