Montgomery-Linam House · Photo: Crimsonedge34 · CC BY-SA 3.0Marlow’s library runs 81 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Marlow Garland Smith Public Library serves Marlow’s 4,495 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,880 visits.
What Marlow’s library is like
47% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 47% of loans, more per resident than at 79% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 53%. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone in Marlow has a card
3,827 cards for 4,495 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Marlow Garland Smith Public Library holds 28,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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.
What’s behind Marlow’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Marlow is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #109 of 128 in Oklahoma. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Marlow’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$71K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Marlow
2.4 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.4%
8.4% of Marlow’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.7% in the typical Oklahoma 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 Marlow’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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 Marlow last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Marlow Garland Smith Public Library serves 4,495 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
47% of borrowing is digital
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
9,650 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Marlow Garland Smith Public Library, 702 W Main, Marlow.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Marlow? 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 $2.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marlow cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $143K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $342K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $143K 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 3,827 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan | Duncan Public Library | 5.9 | 51 | B |
| Marlow | Marlow Garland Smith Public Library | 4.5 | 39 | C |
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. Marlow Garland Smith 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 Marlow
Does Marlow have a public library?
Yes. Marlow Garland Smith Public Library, 702 W Main, serves Marlow’s 4,495 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marlow Garland Smith 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 Marlow’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Marlow’s civic life grade?
C Marlow is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #109 of 128 in Oklahoma. 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 Marlow.
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.