Charlton County Courthouse · Photo: Bubba73 (Jud McCranie) · CC BY-SA 3.0Folkston’s library is a branch of Three Rivers Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 87% of systems its size
Folkston’s library is the Charlton County Library, a branch of Three Rivers Regional Library System, which serves 154,419 people and lent 256K items last year.
What Folkston’s library is like
The Three Rivers Regional Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Three Rivers Regional Library System records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
42% of the budget comes from the state, and 55% 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; Folkston’s library is a branch of Three Rivers Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (154,419 people), not just the Folkston branch.
What’s behind Folkston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Folkston is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #188 of 222 in Georgia. Folkston 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.
Three Rivers Regional Library System spends $20 per resident, against a typical $36 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Folkston
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Folkston’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 Folkston’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.
Three Rivers Regional Library System serves 154,419 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Three Rivers Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
256K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,482 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 17 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
Charlton County Library, 1291 Indian Trail, Folkston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Three Rivers Regional Library System branch.
New in Folkston? 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 $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Folkston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 41,766 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Folkston | Charlton County Library | — | 29 | D |
| Homeland | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Charlton County Library is one branch of Three Rivers Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 154,419 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 Folkston
Does Folkston have a public library?
Yes: Charlton County Library, 1291 Indian Trail, is a branch of Three Rivers Regional Library System, which serves 154,419 people. The branch is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Three Rivers 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 Folkston’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Folkston’s civic life grade?
D Folkston is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #188 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 Folkston.
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.