Carmen’s library runs 124 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Carmen Public Library serves Carmen’s 355 residents. Last year it lent 390 books, movies and e-books and logged 770 visits.
What Carmen’s library is like
More library cards than residents
355 cards for 355 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
Carmen Public Library serves 355 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Carmen Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Federal money pays a real share
12% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Carmen Public Library logs about 4 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 4.1 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Carmen’s civic life grade
Carmen 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Carmen Public Library serves 355 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Carmen Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
390 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,631 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
44 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.
Find it
Carmen Public Library, 110 N 6th, Carmen.
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 Carmen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $26K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $26K 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 355 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. Carmen 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 Carmen
Does Carmen have a public library?
Yes. Carmen Public Library, 110 N 6th, serves Carmen’s 355 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carmen Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Carmen’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Carmen’s civic life grade?
Carmen 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 Carmen.
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.