Dunlawton Plantation-Sugar Mill Ruins · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY 2.5Port Orange’s library is a branch of Volusia County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 54% of systems its size
Port Orange’s library is the Port Orange Regional Library, a branch of Volusia County Public Library, which serves 592,852 people and lent 1.8M items last year.
What stands out about Port Orange Regional Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Port Orange’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Port Orange is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #175 of 273 in Florida. Port Orange is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Port Orange’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($56K–$93K) 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 →
172 community nonprofits are registered in Port Orange
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (57 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Port Orange’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 Port Orange’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Volusia County Public Library serves 592,852 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Volusia County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1.8M 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 Port Orange’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 68 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
Port Orange Regional Library, 1005 City Center Circle, Port Orange.
No late fees. Good at every Volusia County Public Library branch.
New in Port Orange? 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 $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Port Orange cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $22M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $34M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22M 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 254,432 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Orange | Port Orange Regional Library fine-free | — | 61 | C− |
| New Smyrna Beach | New Smyrna Beach Regional Library fine-free | — | 61 | C− |
| Daytona Beach | Volusia County Library Center fine-free | — | 61 | C− |
| Samsula-Spruce Creek | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| South Daytona | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Daytona Beach Shores | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Ponce Inlet | None of its own | — | — | D− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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. Port Orange Regional Library is one branch of Volusia County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 592,852 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 Port Orange
Does Port Orange have a public library?
Yes: Port Orange Regional Library, 1005 City Center Circle, is a branch of Volusia County Public Library, which serves 592,852 people. The branch is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Volusia County Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Port Orange’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Port Orange’s civic life grade?
C− Port Orange is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #175 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 Port Orange.
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.