Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Lincolnton’s library is a branch of Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 51% of systems its size
Lincolnton’s library is the Lincoln County Library, a branch of Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library, which serves 204,836 people and lent 819K items last year.
What Lincolnton’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
100% of the 773 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 12 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Georgia pays a big share
21% of the budget comes from the state, and 76% 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; Lincolnton’s library is a branch of Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (204,836 people), not just the Lincolnton branch.
What’s behind Lincolnton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lincolnton is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. Lincolnton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Lincolnton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library spends $20 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Lincolnton
1.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.0%
3.0% of Lincolnton’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 Lincolnton’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.
Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library serves 204,836 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
819K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
181,557 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 15 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
Lincoln County Library, 181 N. Peachtree Street, Lincolnton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library branch.
New in Lincolnton? 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 $3.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lincolnton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.1M 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 73,533 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lincoln County Library is one branch of Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 204,836 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 Lincolnton
Does Lincolnton have a public library?
Yes: Lincoln County Library, 181 N. Peachtree Street, is a branch of Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library, which serves 204,836 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library 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 Lincolnton’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lincolnton’s civic life grade?
D− Lincolnton is ahead of 2% 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 Lincolnton.
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.