Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0LaGrange’s library is a branch of Troup-Harris Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 76% of systems its size
LaGrange’s library is the Lagrange Memorial Library, a branch of Troup-Harris Regional Library, which serves 108,444 people and lent 274K items last year.
What LaGrange’s library is like
Georgia pays a big share
34% of the budget comes from the state, and 63% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Troup-Harris Regional Library system spends $13 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 68% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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; LaGrange’s library is a branch of Troup-Harris Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (108,444 people), not just the LaGrange branch.
What’s behind LaGrange’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, LaGrange is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #43 of 222 in Georgia. LaGrange is graded on two of the three inputs. LaGrange’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 ($33K–$55K) 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 →
192 community nonprofits are registered in LaGrange
6.0 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 (86 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.6%
3.6% of LaGrange’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 LaGrange’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.
Troup-Harris Regional Library serves 108,444 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Troup-Harris Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
274K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
66,361 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Lagrange Memorial Library, 115 Alford Street, Lagrange.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Troup-Harris Regional Library branch.
New in LaGrange? 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 $2.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average LaGrange cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 26,614 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lagrange Memorial Library is one branch of Troup-Harris Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 108,444 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 LaGrange
Does LaGrange have a public library?
Yes: Lagrange Memorial Library, 115 Alford Street, is a branch of Troup-Harris Regional Library, which serves 108,444 people. The branch is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Troup-Harris Regional Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is LaGrange’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is LaGrange’s civic life grade?
C+ LaGrange is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #43 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 LaGrange.
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.