Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCarrolltown’s library runs 83 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Carrolltown Public Library serves Carrolltown’s 1,051 residents. Last year it lent 8,505 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,513 visits.
What Carrolltown’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
54% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 26%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Carrolltown Public Library serves 1,051 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 43 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 ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
3,516 people came to the library’s 87 programs last year: 3.3 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 87 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 38 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Carrolltown’s civic life grade
Carrolltown 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 →
About 1 kids’ program 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 Carrolltown last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Carrolltown Public Library serves 1,051 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
44% of borrowing is digital
8,505 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,805 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
3,716 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Carrolltown Public Library, 140 East Carroll Street, Carrolltown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Carrolltown? 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 $2.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carrolltown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $55K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $163K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $55K 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 317 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrolltown | Carrolltown Public Library | 8.1 | 43 | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Carroll Township | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| East Carroll Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Carrolltown
Does Carrolltown have a public library?
Yes. Carrolltown Public Library, 140 East Carroll Street, serves Carrolltown’s 1,051 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carrolltown 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 Carrolltown’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Carrolltown’s civic life grade?
Carrolltown 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 Carrolltown.
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.