Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Forsyth’s library is a branch of Flint River Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 55% of systems its size
Forsyth’s library is the Monroe County Library, a branch of Flint River Regional Library System, which serves 295,143 people and lent 1.1M items last year.
What stands out about Monroe County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Forsyth’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Forsyth is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #122 of 222 in Georgia. Forsyth is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Forsyth’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Flint River Regional Library System spends $20 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Forsyth
3.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Forsyth’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 Forsyth’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.
Flint River Regional Library System serves 295,143 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Flint River Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
236,192 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 24 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
Monroe County Library, 62 West Main Street, Forsyth.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Flint River Regional Library System branch.
New in Forsyth? 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 $2.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Forsyth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M 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 106,258 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Monroe County Library is one branch of Flint River Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 295,143 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 Forsyth
Does Forsyth have a public library?
Yes: Monroe County Library, 62 West Main Street, is a branch of Flint River Regional Library System, which serves 295,143 people. The branch is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Flint River 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 Forsyth’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Forsyth’s civic life grade?
C− Forsyth is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #122 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 Forsyth.
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.