Lake Worth’s library runs 47 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Mary Lou Reddick Public Library serves Lake Worth’s 4,616 residents. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
Lake Worth’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
13,934 cards for 4,616 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Open about 77 hours a week
Mary Lou Reddick Public Library is open about 77 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 215 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week 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.
What’s behind Lake Worth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Worth is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #384 of 539 in Texas. Library visits hold the grade up; Lake Worth’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Lake Worth’s 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 ($61K–$102K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Worth
0.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.4%
4.4% of Lake Worth’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Lake Worth’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mary Lou Reddick Public Library serves 4,616 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
10,013 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Lake Worth last year.
Find it
Mary Lou Reddick Public Library, 7005 Charbonneau Rd, Lake Worth.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lake Worth? 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 $1.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Worth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $327K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $505K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $327K 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 13,934 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Worth | Mary Lou Reddick Public Library | 6.9 | 77 | D |
| Sansom Park | None of its own | — | — | 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. Mary Lou Reddick 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 Lake Worth
Does Lake Worth have a public library?
Yes. Mary Lou Reddick Public Library, 7005 Charbonneau Rd, serves Lake Worth’s 4,616 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 77 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mary Lou Reddick 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 Lake Worth’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lake Worth’s civic life grade?
D Lake Worth is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #384 of 539 in Texas. 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 Lake Worth.
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.