Photo: Brian31 at English Wikipedia · Public domainElberton’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Elbert County Public Library System serves 20,105 people in and around Elberton. Last year it lent 40K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
The short version on Elberton’s library
Georgia pays a big share
44% of the budget comes from the state, and 48% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Elbert County Public Library System offered 179 programs last year, 8.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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; Elbert County Public Library System serves 20,105 people in and around Elberton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Elberton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Elberton is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #147 of 222 in Georgia. Elberton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Elberton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Elbert County Public Library System spends $16 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$63K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Elberton
3.5 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.2%
2.2% of Elberton’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 Elberton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Elbert County Public Library System serves 20,105 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Elbert County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
40K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
13,812 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Elbert County Public Library, 345 Heard Street, Elberton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Elbert County Public Library System branch.
New in Elberton? 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 $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elberton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $331K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $674K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $331K 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 8,605 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Elbert County Public Library System serves 20,105 people in and around Elberton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Elberton.
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 Elberton
Does Elberton have a public library?
Yes. Elbert County Public Library System, 345 Heard Street, serves 20,105 people in and around Elberton (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elbert County Public 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 Elberton’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Elberton’s civic life grade?
D Elberton is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #147 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 Elberton.
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.