Photo: HowardSF at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Dahlonega’s library is a branch of Chestatee Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 59% of systems its size
Dahlonega’s library is the Lumpkin County Library, a branch of Chestatee Regional Library System, which serves 68,455 people and lent 282K items last year.
The short version on Dahlonega’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Chestatee Regional Library System sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
26% of the budget comes from the state, and 68% 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; Dahlonega’s library is a branch of Chestatee Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (68,455 people), not just the Dahlonega branch.
What’s behind Dahlonega’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dahlonega is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #39 of 222 in Georgia. Dahlonega is graded on two of the three inputs. Dahlonega’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$97K) 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Dahlonega
5.4 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 (6 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.
4.8%
4.8% of Dahlonega’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 Dahlonega’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Chestatee Regional Library System serves 68,455 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chestatee Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
282K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
73,820 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Lumpkin County Library, 56 Mechanicsville Road, Dahlonega.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Chestatee Regional Library System branch.
New in Dahlonega? 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 $3.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dahlonega cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 24,039 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lumpkin County Library is one branch of Chestatee Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 68,455 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 Dahlonega
Does Dahlonega have a public library?
Yes: Lumpkin County Library, 56 Mechanicsville Road, is a branch of Chestatee Regional Library System, which serves 68,455 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chestatee 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 Dahlonega’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Dahlonega’s civic life grade?
C+ Dahlonega is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 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 Dahlonega.
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.