Scottdale’s library is a branch of Dekalb County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 65% of systems its size
Scottdale’s library is the Scottdale-Tobie Grant Branch, a branch of Dekalb County Public Library, which serves 768,134 people and lent 3.4M items last year.
What stands out about Scottdale-Tobie Grant Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Scottdale’s civic life grade
Scottdale isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Dekalb County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Scottdale
Scottdale is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
10.2%
10.2% of Scottdale’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 Scottdale’s residents live; 2022.
45% of borrowing is digital
3.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,537,855 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Dekalb County Public Library serves 768,134 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 59 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dekalb County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 35 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
Scottdale-Tobie Grant Branch, 593 Parkdale Drive, Scottdale.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dekalb County Public Library branch.
New in Scottdale? 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 $1.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Scottdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $29M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $52M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29M 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 169,981 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottdale | Scottdale-Tobie Grant Branch fine-free | — | 48 | — unincorporated |
| Clarkston | Clarkston Branch fine-free | — | 47 | C |
| Decatur | Decatur Library fine-free | — | 57 | A+ |
| North Decatur | Toco Hill-Avis G. Williams Branch fine-free | — | 49 | — unincorporated |
| Avondale Estates | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Scottdale-Tobie Grant Branch is one branch of Dekalb County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 768,134 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 Scottdale
Does Scottdale have a public library?
Yes: Scottdale-Tobie Grant Branch, 593 Parkdale Drive, is a branch of Dekalb County Public Library, which serves 768,134 people. The branch is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dekalb County Public 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 Scottdale’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Scottdale’s civic life grade?
Scottdale isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Dekalb County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Scottdale.
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.