Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Monroe’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Monroe Public Library serves Monroe’s 876 residents. Last year it lent 2,701 books, movies and e-books and logged 750 visits.
Monroe’s library, in brief
Monroe Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Monroe Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Monroe’s library lends 3.1 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Bath at 15. Libraries next door ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Monroe Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Littleton Public Library in Littleton, next door, is open about 39 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Monroe Public Library serves 876 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
49% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 49% of loans, more per resident than at 63% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 51%. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Monroe’s civic life grade
Monroe 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 →
49% of borrowing is digital
2,701 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,321 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Monroe Public Library serves 876 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
14 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Monroe last year.
Find it
Monroe Public Library, 19 Plains Road, Monroe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Monroe? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monroe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $54K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $45K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54K 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 285 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Monroe ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | Bath Public Library fine-free | 15.0 | 21 | B+ |
| Littleton | Littleton Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 39 | A |
| Barnet | Barnet Public fine-free | 3.9 | 21 | C+ |
| Monroe | Monroe Public Library fine-free | 3.1 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ryegate | South Ryegate Public | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Lyman | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Monroe Public Library 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 Monroe
Does Monroe have a public library?
Yes. Monroe Public Library, 19 Plains Road, serves Monroe’s 876 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monroe Public Library 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 Monroe’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Monroe’s civic life grade?
Monroe 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 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.