Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hiawassee

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Hiawassee, Georgia in Towns County – aerial photo 02Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0
Towns County Public Library · part of Mountain Regional Library System

Hiawassee’s library is a branch of Mountain Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 64% of systems its size

Hiawassee’s library is the Towns County Public Library, a branch of Mountain Regional Library System, which serves 66,843 people and lent 254K items last year.

99 South Berrong Street, Hiawassee 30546 · about 31 hours a week
C−Civic lifeAhead of 24% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (706) 896-6169 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
254K
3.8 per resident
Visits a year
145K
2.2 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
464
about 9 a week · 12K attended
Cardholders
30%
19,987 cards
Open
31 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

Hiawassee’s library, in brief

Below typical on every measure

Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Mountain Regional Library System sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓

Georgia pays a big share

36% of the budget comes from the state, and 57% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓

Most programs are for young children

73% of the 464 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓

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; Hiawassee’s library is a branch of Mountain Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (66,843 people), not just the Hiawassee branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Hiawassee’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hiawassee is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns. Hiawassee is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hiawassee’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

C−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Hiawassee’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureB−Community nonprofits3.6 per 1,000 residents · GA towns 2.8 · U.S. 3.7C−Volunteering5.4% of adults 25–44 · GA towns 4.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 24%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $34K–$56K (3,388)Ahead of 28%

Mountain Regional Library System spends $23 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$56K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Hiawassee is small (1,038 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

5 community nonprofits are registered in Hiawassee

3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation00.23 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans21.16 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.46 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.46 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.08 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.46 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

5.4%

5.4% of Hiawassee’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 Hiawassee’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.2 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 60%
Borrowing per resident 2.7 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 64%
Digital borrowing 1.1 e-items · typical 1.2Lower than 51%
Kids’ borrowing 1.3 kids’ items · typical 1.7Lower than 58%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.3Lower than 75%
Programs offered 6.9 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Lower than 83%
Cardholders 30% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 70%
Spending $23 per resident · typical $40Lower than 77%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Mountain Regional Library System serves 66,843 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mountain Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.

145K
visits
2.2 per resident
254K
loans, print + digital
3.8 per resident
464
programs & events
12K attended
20K
library cards
30% of people served
Every open hour33items borrowed
Every week235people at a program
Every day285Wi-Fi sessions
21 staff (full-time equivalent)70 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

254K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

254Kloans
Books & media (adults) 34%Kids’ books & media 35%E-books, audio & streaming 30%
From your couch

76,416 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 7 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Hiawassee →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5231
Ages 6–11108
Teens7
Adults74
All ages44
Little ones
4.4

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

90K
kids’ books & media borrowed
12K
people at programs
464
programs
The building

Find it

Towns County Public Library, 99 South Berrong Street, Hiawassee.

Directions(706) 896-6169
31
hours open a week
7,900
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mountain Regional Library System branch.

New in Hiawassee? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.72 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hiawassee cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$23 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.

Local taxes 57%State 36%Federal 1%Gifts & other 6%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 19,987 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Towns County Public Library is one branch of Mountain Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 66,843 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 Hiawassee

Does Hiawassee have a public library?

Yes: Towns County Public Library, 99 South Berrong Street, is a branch of Mountain Regional Library System, which serves 66,843 people. The branch is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Mountain 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 Hiawassee’s library?

It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Hiawassee’s civic life grade?

C− Hiawassee is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Hiawassee.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.