Photo: Rudi Riet from Washington, DC, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Monterey’s library logs 7.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Highland County Public Library serves 2,226 people in and around Monterey. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Monterey’s library is like
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Highland County Public Library is above the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Virginia pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Highland County Public Library serves 2,226 people in and around Monterey, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Monterey’s civic life grade
Monterey 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Highland County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Highland County Public Library serves 2,226 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,596 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Highland County Public Library, 31 N. Water Street, Monterey.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Highland County Public Library branch.
New in Monterey? 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 $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monterey resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $196K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $357K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $196K 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 2,226 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: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Highland County Public Library serves 2,226 people in and around Monterey, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Monterey.
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 Monterey
Does Monterey have a public library?
Yes. Highland County Public Library, 31 N. Water Street, serves 2,226 people in and around Monterey (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Highland County Public 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 Monterey’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 8.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Monterey’s civic life grade?
Monterey 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 Monterey.
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.