Mechanicsville Public Library
Mechanicsville Public Library serves Mechanicsville’s 2,402 residents. Last year it lent 6,558 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,993 visits.
What stands out about Mechanicsville Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mechanicsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $128K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $112K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $128K 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 350 cardholders ÷ 12.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Close to typical for its size
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
library systems for visits per resident.
Mechanicsville Public Library serves 2,402 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,558 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,837 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Mechanicsville last year.
Find it
Mechanicsville Public Library, 218 E 1st St., Mechanicsville.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Mechanicsville.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.