Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home · Photo: Annalisa.frazier · CC BY-SA 3.0Augusta’s library is a branch of Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 91% of systems its size
Augusta’s library is the Augusta Public Library, a branch of Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, which serves 206,731 people and lent 282K items last year.
The short version on Augusta’s library
The Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Six branches in Augusta
Augusta has six branches of the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, which serves 206,731 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
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; Augusta’s library is a branch of Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, so they cover the whole system (206,731 people), not just the Augusta branch.
What’s behind Augusta’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Augusta is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #195 of 222 in Georgia. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #344. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Augusta’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System spends $18 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
490 community nonprofits are registered in Augusta
2.4 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 (218 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 32 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.1%
4.1% of Augusta’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 Augusta’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System serves 206,731 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
282K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
63,021 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 16 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.
6 places to borrow in Augusta
Augusta Public Library, 823 Telfair Street, Augusta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System branch.
New in Augusta? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System branches in Augusta
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Augusta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 93,606 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta | Augusta Public Library | — | 58 | D− |
| North Augusta | Nancy Carson Library | — | 46 | C |
| Grovetown | Grovetown Library | — | 48 | D |
| Hephzibah | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Martinez | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Beech Island | 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. Augusta Public Library is one branch of Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 206,731 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 Augusta
Does Augusta have a public library?
Yes: Augusta Public Library, 823 Telfair Street, is a branch of Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, which serves 206,731 people. The branch is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Augusta-Richmond County Public 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 Augusta’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Augusta’s civic life grade?
D− Augusta is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #195 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 Augusta.
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.