Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Johnston’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library serves Johnston’s 29,568 residents. Last year it lent 70K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
Johnston’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Johnston’s library lends 2.4 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Smithfield at 11. Libraries next door ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 346 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. 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.
What’s behind Johnston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Johnston is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Johnston’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$115K) 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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Johnston
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.0%
4.0% of Johnston’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.4% in the typical Rhode Island 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 Johnston’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library serves 29,568 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
70K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
17,263 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Johnston last year.
Find it
Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library, 1 Memorial Avenue, Johnston.
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 Johnston? 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 $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Johnston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $664K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $664K 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 5,617 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Johnston ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield | Greenville Public Library | 10.6 | 59 | C |
| Greenville | Greenville Public Library | 10.6 | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Scituate | North Scituate Public Library fine-free | 10.0 | 49 | B− |
| Cranston | Cranston Public Library | 6.8 | 61 | C− |
| North Providence | Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library fine-free | 4.9 | 55 | D |
| Providence | Providence Public Library | 2.6 | 50 | C+ |
| Johnston | Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library fine-free | 2.4 | 57 | D− |
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. Marian J. Mohr Memorial 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 Johnston
Does Johnston have a public library?
Yes. Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library, 1 Memorial Avenue, serves Johnston’s 29,568 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marian J. Mohr Memorial 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 Johnston’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Johnston’s civic life grade?
D− Johnston is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Johnston.
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.