Photo: AtlChampion · CC BY-SA 4.0Atlanta’s library is a branch of Fulton County Library System, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Atlanta’s library is the Central Library, a branch of Fulton County Library System, which serves 1,094,693 people and lent 4.3M items last year.
Atlanta’s library, in brief
18 branches in Atlanta
Atlanta has 18 branches of the Fulton County Library System, which serves 1,094,693 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
961,785 cards for 1,094,693 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
47% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 47% of loans, more per resident than at 61% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 53%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 63% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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; Atlanta’s library is a branch of Fulton County Library System, so they cover the whole system (1,094,693 people), not just the Atlanta branch.
What’s behind Atlanta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Atlanta is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #6 of 222 in Georgia. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #36. Atlanta is graded on two of the three inputs. Atlanta’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
4,216 community nonprofits are registered in Atlanta
8.3 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 (716 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 269 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Atlanta’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.9% in the typical Georgia 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 Atlanta’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Fulton County Library System serves 1,094,693 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 54 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fulton County Library System system. The library’s own count.
47% of borrowing is digital
4.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,027,347 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 66 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.
18 places to borrow in Atlanta
Central Library, One Margaret Mitchell Square, Atlanta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fulton County Library System branch.
New in Atlanta? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Fulton County Library System branches in Atlanta
And 5 more in Atlanta.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Atlanta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $64M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 961,785 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | Central Library | — | 53 | B+ |
| South Fulton | Wolf Creek Branch Library | — | 52 | C− |
| Sandy Springs | Sandy Springs Regional Library | — | 52 | C+ |
| East Point | East Point Branch Library | — | 52 | C+ |
| Candler-McAfee | Scott Candler Branch fine-free | — | 49 | — unincorporated |
| Hapeville | Hapeville Branch Library | — | 52 | D− |
| Belvedere Park | Covington Branch fine-free | — | 49 | — unincorporated |
| Decatur | Decatur Library fine-free | — | 57 | A+ |
| Vinings | Vinings Library fine-free | — | 51 | — unincorporated |
| Druid Hills | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| North Druid Hills | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. Central Library is one branch of Fulton County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,094,693 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 Atlanta
Does Atlanta have a public library?
Yes: Central Library, One Margaret Mitchell Square, is a branch of Fulton County Library System, which serves 1,094,693 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fulton County Library System 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 Atlanta’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Atlanta’s civic life grade?
B+ Atlanta is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 of 222 in Georgia. 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 Atlanta.
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.