Photo: Renegomezphotography · CC BY-SA 4.0Pauline and Jane Chilton Memorial Marlin Public Library serves Marlin’s 5,543 residents
Pauline and Jane Chilton Memorial Marlin Public Library serves Marlin’s 5,543 residents.
What stands out about Marlin’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Marlin’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Marlin is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #271 of 539 in Texas. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Marlin is graded on two of the three inputs. Marlin’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Marlin’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2022 figure, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($27K–$46K) 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Marlin
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.9%
2.9% of Marlin’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 Marlin’s residents live; 2022.
A year at Pauline and Jane Chilton Memorial Marlin Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits and print loans. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Find it
Pauline and Jane Chilton Memorial Marlin Public Library, 400 Oaks St., Marlin.
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 Marlin resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 5,543 people it serves ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Pauline and Jane Chilton Memorial Marlin Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2022 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: print loans. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Marlin
Does Marlin have a public library?
Yes. Pauline and Jane Chilton Memorial Marlin Public Library, 400 Oaks St., serves Marlin’s 5,543 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Pauline and Jane Chilton Memorial Marlin Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Marlin’s library?
It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Marlin’s civic life grade?
C Marlin is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #271 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 Marlin.
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.