Fort James Jackson · Photo: MArcin K. · CC BY-SA 3.0Savannah’s library is a branch of Live Oak Public Libraries, which lends less per resident than 81% of systems its size
Savannah’s library is the Bull Street Library, a branch of Live Oak Public Libraries, which serves 450,821 people and lent 1M items last year.
What stands out about Bull Street Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Savannah’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Savannah is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #24 of 222 in Georgia. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #101. Savannah is graded on two of the three inputs. Savannah’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
830 community nonprofits are registered in Savannah
5.6 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 (255 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 27 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Savannah’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 Savannah’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.
Live Oak Public Libraries serves 450,821 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Live Oak Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
240,963 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 53 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.
8 places to borrow in Savannah
Bull Street Library, 2002 Bull Street, Savannah.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Live Oak Public Libraries branch.
New in Savannah? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Live Oak Public Libraries branches in Savannah
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Savannah cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $12M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12M 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 150,758 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savannah | Bull Street Library | — | 31 | B− |
| Pooler | Pooler Library | — | 42 | D |
| Garden City | Garden City Library | — | 43 | D− |
| Georgetown | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Port Wentworth | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Vernonburg | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Thunderbolt | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Montgomery | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Henderson | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Bloomingdale | None of its own | — | — | D |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bull Street Library is one branch of Live Oak Public Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 450,821 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 Savannah
Does Savannah have a public library?
Yes: Bull Street Library, 2002 Bull Street, is a branch of Live Oak Public Libraries, which serves 450,821 people. The branch is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Live Oak Public Libraries 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 Savannah’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Savannah’s civic life grade?
B− Savannah is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Savannah.
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.