Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY 2.5Chipley’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Washington County Public Library serves 24,234 people in and around Chipley. Last year it lent 47K print books and media and logged 40K visits.
What Chipley’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Washington County Public Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Florida pays a big share
31% of the budget comes from the state, and 69% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Washington County Public Library offered 228 programs last year, 9.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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; Washington County Public Library serves 24,234 people in and around Chipley, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Chipley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chipley is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #184 of 273 in Florida. Chipley is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Chipley’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$58K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Chipley
2.8 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Chipley’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Chipley’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Washington County Public Library serves 24,234 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Washington County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
47K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Chipley’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 3 kids’ programs 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
Washington County Public Library, 1444 Jackson Avenue, Chipley.
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 $1.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chipley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $785K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $861K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $785K 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 4,967 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Washington County Public Library serves 24,234 people in and around Chipley, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chipley.
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 Chipley
Does Chipley have a public library?
Yes. Washington County Public Library, 1444 Jackson Avenue, serves 24,234 people in and around Chipley (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Washington County Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Chipley’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Chipley’s civic life grade?
D Chipley is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #184 of 273 in Florida. 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 Chipley.
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.