Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Monroe’s library logs 3.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Monroe Public Library serves Monroe’s 2,685 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,967 visits.
Monroe’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 115 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Monroe Public Library logs about 35 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 13 public computers. That’s 4.8 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Monroe’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Monroe is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #8 of 106 in Utah. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Monroe’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Monroe
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.6%
11.6% of Monroe’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.2% in the typical Utah 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 Monroe’s residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
8,121 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Monroe Public Library serves 2,685 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Monroe last year.
Find it
Monroe Public Library, 55 North Main Street, Monroe.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Monroe? 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 $4.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monroe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $77K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $326K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $77K 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 1,016 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Monroe
Does Monroe have a public library?
Yes. Monroe Public Library, 55 North Main Street, serves Monroe’s 2,685 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monroe 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 Monroe’s library?
It logged 3.7 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 Monroe’s civic life grade?
B Monroe is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 of 106 in Utah. 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 Monroe.
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.