McCarty Subdivision Historic District · Photo: GamblinMonkey · Public domainDalton’s library is a branch of Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 90% of systems its size
Dalton’s library is the Dalton-Whitfield County Library, a branch of Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, which serves 206,487 people and lent 271K items last year.
What Dalton’s library is like
The Northwest Georgia Regional Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Northwest Georgia Regional Library System records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
39% of the budget comes from the state, and 57% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Northwest Georgia Regional Library System spends $12 per resident, less than 95% 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; Dalton’s library is a branch of Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (206,487 people), not just the Dalton branch.
What’s behind Dalton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dalton is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #100 of 222 in Georgia. Dalton is graded on two of the three inputs. Dalton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Northwest Georgia Regional Library System spends $12 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$79K) 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 →
137 community nonprofits are registered in Dalton
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 (60 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.6%
3.6% of Dalton’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 Dalton’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.
Northwest Georgia Regional Library System serves 206,487 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northwest Georgia Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
271K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
36,788 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 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
Dalton-Whitfield County Library, 310 Cappes Street, Dalton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Northwest Georgia Regional Library System branch.
New in Dalton? 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 $1.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dalton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 43,511 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Dalton-Whitfield County Library is one branch of Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 206,487 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 Dalton
Does Dalton have a public library?
Yes: Dalton-Whitfield County Library, 310 Cappes Street, is a branch of Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, which serves 206,487 people. The branch is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northwest Georgia Regional Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Dalton’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Dalton’s civic life grade?
C− Dalton is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #100 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 Dalton.
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.