Photo: Upstateherd · CC BY-SA 4.0Hartwell’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Hart County Library System serves 28,031 people in and around Hartwell. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
What Hartwell’s library is like
Hart County Library System is used less than most libraries its size
Hart County Library System records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
57% of the budget comes from the state, and 36% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 221 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Hart County Library System spends $11 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Hart County Library System serves 28,031 people in and around Hartwell, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hartwell’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hartwell is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #82 of 222 in Georgia. Hartwell is graded on two of the three inputs. Hartwell’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Hart County Library System spends $11 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Hartwell
4.5 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.1%
3.1% of Hartwell’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 Hartwell’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hart County Library System serves 28,031 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hart County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,306 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Hart County Library, 150 Benson Street, Hartwell.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hart County Library System branch.
New in Hartwell? 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hartwell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $315K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $713K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $315K 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 5,283 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartwell | Hart County Library | — | 39 | C− |
| Reed Creek | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Hart County Library System serves 28,031 people in and around Hartwell, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hartwell.
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 Hartwell
Does Hartwell have a public library?
Yes. Hart County Library System, 150 Benson Street, serves 28,031 people in and around Hartwell (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hart County 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 Hartwell’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hartwell’s civic life grade?
C− Hartwell is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #82 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 Hartwell.
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.