Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Fitzgerald’s library is a branch of Coastal Plain Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 86% of systems its size
Fitzgerald’s library is the Fitzgerald - Ben Hill County Library, a branch of Coastal Plain Regional Library, which serves 113,445 people and lent 199K items last year.
The short version on Fitzgerald’s library
Georgia pays a big share
38% of the budget comes from the state, and 44% 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 ↓
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; Fitzgerald’s library is a branch of Coastal Plain Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (113,445 people), not just the Fitzgerald branch.
What’s behind Fitzgerald’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fitzgerald is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #214 of 222 in Georgia. Fitzgerald is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Fitzgerald’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Coastal Plain Regional Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($28K–$47K) 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Fitzgerald
1.9 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.1%
2.1% of Fitzgerald’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 Fitzgerald’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Coastal Plain Regional Library serves 113,445 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Coastal Plain Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
199K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,339 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 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
Fitzgerald - Ben Hill County Library, 123 North Main Street, Fitzgerald.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Coastal Plain Regional Library branch.
New in Fitzgerald? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fitzgerald cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 19,946 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Fitzgerald - Ben Hill County Library is one branch of Coastal Plain Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 113,445 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 Fitzgerald
Does Fitzgerald have a public library?
Yes: Fitzgerald - Ben Hill County Library, 123 North Main Street, is a branch of Coastal Plain Regional Library, which serves 113,445 people. The branch is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coastal Plain Regional Library 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 Fitzgerald’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fitzgerald’s civic life grade?
D− Fitzgerald is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #214 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 Fitzgerald.
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.