Photo: Robbie Honerkamp · CC BY-SA 3.0Blakely’s library is a branch of De Soto Trail Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 86% of systems its size
Blakely’s library is the Lucy Hilton Maddox Memorial Library, a branch of De Soto Trail Regional Library System, which serves 34,307 people and lent 46K items last year.
What Blakely’s library is like
Georgia pays a big share
62% of the budget comes from the state, and 32% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
The De Soto Trail Regional Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The De Soto Trail 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 1.2 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 723 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 6.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Blakely’s library is a branch of De Soto Trail Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (34,307 people), not just the Blakely branch.
What’s behind Blakely’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Blakely is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #110 of 222 in Georgia. Blakely is graded on two of the three inputs. Blakely’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
De Soto Trail Regional Library System spends $18 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Blakely
4.0 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 (15 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.
1.8%
1.8% of Blakely’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 Blakely’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
De Soto Trail Regional Library System serves 34,307 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole De Soto Trail Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,427 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Lucy Hilton Maddox Memorial Library, 11880 Columbia Street, Blakely.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every De Soto Trail Regional Library System branch.
New in Blakely? 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 $1.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blakely cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $621K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $943K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $621K 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 9,115 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lucy Hilton Maddox Memorial Library is one branch of De Soto Trail Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 34,307 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 Blakely
Does Blakely have a public library?
Yes: Lucy Hilton Maddox Memorial Library, 11880 Columbia Street, is a branch of De Soto Trail Regional Library System, which serves 34,307 people. The branch is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is De Soto Trail 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 Blakely’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Blakely’s civic life grade?
C− Blakely is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #110 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 Blakely.
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.