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United States Post Office-Baxley, GeorgiaUnited States Post Office-Baxley, Georgia · Photo: Bubba73 (Jud McCranie) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Appling County Public Library · part of Okefenokee Regional Library System

Baxley’s library is a branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 88% of systems its size

Baxley’s library is the Appling County Public Library, a branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, which serves 93,440 people and lent 126K items last year.

242 E. Parker Street, Baxley 31513 · about 44 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 38% of U.S. towns · #42 of 222 in Georgia. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (912) 367-8103 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
126K
1.3 per resident
Visits a year
100K
1.1 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
1,059
about 20 a week · 15K attended
Cardholders
21%
19,756 cards
Open
44 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

Baxley’s library, in brief

The Okefenokee Regional Library System is used less than most libraries its size

The Okefenokee Regional Library System records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓

Georgia pays a big share

51% of the budget comes from the state, and 41% 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; Baxley’s library is a branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (93,440 people), not just the Baxley branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Baxley’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Baxley is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #42 of 222 in Georgia. Baxley is graded on two of the three inputs. Baxley’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Baxley’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureB+Community nonprofits5.2 per 1,000 residents · GA towns 2.8 · U.S. 3.7DVolunteering4.9% of adults 25–44 · GA towns 4.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 38%
FewerMore
Georgia towns we grade (222)Ahead of 81%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $22K–$37K (434)Ahead of 67%

Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($22K–$37K) it does better, ahead of 67%.

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Baxley is small (5,058 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

25 community nonprofits are registered in Baxley

5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture30.53 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.39 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans51.04 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services71.39 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education30.59 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.18 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.18 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other40.84 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

4.9%

4.9% of Baxley’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 Baxley’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.1 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 88%
Borrowing per resident 1 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 88%
Digital borrowing 0.3 e-items · typical 1.2Lower than 86%
Kids’ borrowing 0.4 kids’ items · typical 1.7Lower than 89%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.3Lower than 79%
Programs offered 11.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Lower than 62%
Cardholders 21% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 84%
Spending $18 per resident · typical $40Lower than 84%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Okefenokee Regional Library System serves 93,440 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Okefenokee Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.

100K
visits
1.1 per resident
126K
loans, print + digital
1.3 per resident
1,059
programs & events
15K attended
20K
library cards
21% of people served
Every open hour13items borrowed
Every week298people at a program
Every week1,925visits
10 staff (full-time equivalent)109 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

126K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

126Kloans
Books & media (adults) 49%Kids’ books & media 28%E-books, audio & streaming 23%
From your couch

29,172 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 7 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Baxley →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–589
Ages 6–11250
Teens48
Adults452
All ages220
Little ones
1.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

35K
kids’ books & media borrowed
15K
people at programs
1,059
programs
The building

Find it

Appling County Public Library, 242 E. Parker Street, Baxley.

Directions(912) 367-8103
44
hours open a week
7,412
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Okefenokee Regional Library System branch.

New in Baxley? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.25 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Baxley cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$18 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.

Local taxes 41%State 51%Federal 0%Gifts & other 8%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 19,756 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Appling County Public Library is one branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 93,440 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 Baxley

Does Baxley have a public library?

Yes: Appling County Public Library, 242 E. Parker Street, is a branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, which serves 93,440 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Okefenokee 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 Baxley’s library?

It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Baxley’s civic life grade?

C+ Baxley is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #42 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 Baxley.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.