Photo: FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore · CC BY-SA 4.0Hastings’ library is a branch of St. Johns County Public Library System, which lends more per resident than 58% of systems its size
Hastings’s library is the Hastings Branch Library, a branch of St. Johns County Public Library System, which serves 331,327 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
What stands out about Hastings Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hastings’ civic life grade
Hastings 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
St. Johns County Public Library System serves 331,327 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 82 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. Johns County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1.2M 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 Hastings’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 25 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
Hastings Branch Library, 6195 South Main Street, Hastings.
Good at every St. Johns County Public Library System branch.
New in Hastings? 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 $2.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hastings cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $22M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.5M 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 99,686 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. Hastings Branch Library is one branch of St. Johns County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 331,327 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 Hastings
Does Hastings have a public library?
Yes: Hastings Branch Library, 6195 South Main Street, is a branch of St. Johns County Public Library System, which serves 331,327 people. The branch is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. Johns County Public Library System fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hastings’ library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hastings’ civic life grade?
Hastings 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 Hastings.
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.