Photo: Eli Pousson · CC BY-SA 2.0Georgetown’s library runs 80 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Georgetown Public Library serves Georgetown’s 16,459 residents. Last year it lent 48K books, movies and e-books and logged 68K visits.
What Georgetown’s library is like
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Georgetown Public Library ran 1,312 programs last year, about 25 a week. That’s 80 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 1,312 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 225 were for children. 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 Georgetown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Georgetown is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #17 of 22 in Delaware. Georgetown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Georgetown’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Georgetown
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.1%
4.1% of Georgetown’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Delaware 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 Georgetown’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Georgetown last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Georgetown Public Library serves 16,459 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
48K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
11,582 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Georgetown Public Library, 123 West Pine Street, Georgetown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Georgetown? 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 $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Georgetown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $496K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $910K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $496K 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 5,214 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 Georgetown
Does Georgetown have a public library?
Yes. Georgetown Public Library, 123 West Pine Street, serves Georgetown’s 16,459 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Georgetown 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 Georgetown’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Georgetown’s civic life grade?
C− Georgetown is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 of 22 in Delaware. 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 Georgetown.
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.