Helen’s library is a branch of Northeast Georgia Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 66% of systems its size
Helen’s library is the White County Public Library-Helen Branch, a branch of Northeast Georgia Regional Library System, which serves 123,671 people and lent 376K items last year.
What stands out about White County Public Library-Helen Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Helen’s civic life grade
Helen isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Northeast Georgia Regional Library System serves 123,671 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northeast Georgia Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
376K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
77,826 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
White County Public Library-Helen Branch, 90 Pete's Park Road, Helen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Northeast Georgia Regional Library System branch.
New in Helen? 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 $2.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Helen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 36,724 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. White County Public Library-Helen Branch is one branch of Northeast Georgia Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 123,671 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 Helen
Does Helen have a public library?
Yes: White County Public Library-Helen Branch, 90 Pete's Park Road, is a branch of Northeast Georgia Regional Library System, which serves 123,671 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northeast Georgia 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 Helen’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Helen’s civic life grade?
Helen isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Helen.
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.