Photo: JohnnyReb1977 · CC BY-SA 4.0Claxton’s library is a branch of Statesboro Regional Public Libraries, which lends less per resident than 84% of systems its size
Claxton’s library is the Evans County Library, a branch of Statesboro Regional Public Libraries, which serves 181,925 people and lent 372K items last year.
What Claxton’s library is like
The Statesboro Regional Public Libraries system is used less than most libraries its size
The Statesboro Regional Public Libraries system records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
34% of the budget comes from the state, and 57% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Statesboro Regional Public Libraries system spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). 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; Claxton’s library is a branch of Statesboro Regional Public Libraries, so they cover the whole system (181,925 people), not just the Claxton branch.
What’s behind Claxton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Claxton is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #193 of 222 in Georgia. Claxton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Statesboro Regional Public Libraries spends $15 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($25K–$41K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Claxton
1.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.9%
4.9% of Claxton’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 Claxton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Statesboro Regional Public Libraries serves 181,925 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Statesboro Regional Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
372K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
81,530 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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
Evans County Library, 701 West Main Street, Claxton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Statesboro Regional Public Libraries branch.
New in Claxton? 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Claxton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.7M 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 33,370 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claxton | Evans County Library | — | 29 | D |
| Hagan | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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. Evans County Library is one branch of Statesboro Regional Public Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 181,925 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 Claxton
Does Claxton have a public library?
Yes: Evans County Library, 701 West Main Street, is a branch of Statesboro Regional Public Libraries, which serves 181,925 people. The branch is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Statesboro Regional Public Libraries 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 Claxton’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Claxton’s civic life grade?
D Claxton is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #193 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 Claxton.
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.