Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Jesup’s library lends 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Three Rivers Regional Library System serves 154,419 people in and around Jesup from 2 locations. Last year it lent 256K books, movies and e-books and logged 197K visits.
Jesup’s library, in brief
Three Rivers Regional Library System is used less than most libraries its size
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; Three Rivers Regional Library System serves 154,419 people in and around Jesup, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Jesup’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jesup is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #65 of 222 in Georgia. Jesup is graded on two of the three inputs. Jesup’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$59K) 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Jesup
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Jesup’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 Jesup’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.
2 places to borrow in Jesup
Three Rivers Regional Library System, 280 South Mahogany Street, Jesup.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Three Rivers Regional Library System branch.
New in Jesup? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Three Rivers Regional Library System branches in Jesup
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 Jesup 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Three Rivers Regional Library System serves 154,419 people in and around Jesup, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jesup.
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 Jesup
Does Jesup have a public library?
Yes. Three Rivers Regional Library System, 280 South Mahogany Street, serves 154,419 people in and around Jesup (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 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 Jesup’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 Jesup’s civic life grade?
C Jesup is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #65 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 Jesup.
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.