Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Barnesville’s library is a branch of Flint River Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 55% of systems its size
Barnesville’s library is the Barnesville-Lamar County Library, a branch of Flint River Regional Library System, which serves 295,143 people and lent 1.1M items last year.
The short version on Barnesville’s library
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Library of Barnesville has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 13,000 square feet. The building ↓
Georgia pays a big share
25% of the budget comes from the state, and 70% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Barnesville’s library is a branch of Flint River Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (295,143 people), not just the Barnesville branch.
What’s behind Barnesville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Barnesville is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #99 of 222 in Georgia. Barnesville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Barnesville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Flint River Regional Library System spends $20 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Barnesville
3.1 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Barnesville’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 Barnesville’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Barnesville-Lamar County Library, 401 Thomaston Street, Barnesville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Flint River Regional Library System branch.
New in Barnesville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Library of Barnesville
Carnegie Library of Barnesville was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Feb 3, 1987. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Georgian Style.
The Carnegie Library of Barnesville, in Barnesville, Georgia, was built in 1910. It was designed by Whitfield & King. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It is now a private home and studio.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Flint River Regional Library System serves 295,143 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Flint River Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
236,192 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 24 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Barnesville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M 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 106,258 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnesville | Barnesville-Lamar County Library | — | 36 | C− |
| Aldora | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Barnesville-Lamar County Library is one branch of Flint River Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 295,143 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 Barnesville
Does Barnesville have a public library?
Yes: Barnesville-Lamar County Library, 401 Thomaston Street, is a branch of Flint River Regional Library System, which serves 295,143 people. The branch is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Flint River Regional 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 Barnesville’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Barnesville’s civic life grade?
C− Barnesville is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #99 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 Barnesville.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.