Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 4.0Freeport’s library is a branch of Walton County Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 84% of systems its size
Freeport’s library is the Freeport Public Library, a branch of Walton County Public Library System, which serves 86,373 people and lent 109K items last year.
What stands out about Freeport Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Freeport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Freeport is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #67 of 273 in Florida. Freeport is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Freeport’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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Freeport
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
8.9%
8.9% of Freeport’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 Freeport’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Walton County Public Library System serves 86,373 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Walton County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
109K 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 Freeport’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 10 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
Freeport Public Library, 76 Highway 20 West, Freeport.
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 $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Freeport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 30,011 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. Freeport Public Library is one branch of Walton County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 86,373 people it serves.
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 Freeport
Does Freeport have a public library?
Yes: Freeport Public Library, 76 Highway 20 West, is a branch of Walton County Public Library System, which serves 86,373 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Walton County Public Library System fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Freeport’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 1.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Freeport’s civic life grade?
B− Freeport is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #67 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 Freeport.
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.