Photo: Blastoids · CC BY-SA 3.0Sparta’s library is a branch of Azalea Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 81% of systems its size
Sparta’s library is the Hancock County Library, a branch of Azalea Regional Library System, which serves 199,682 people and lent 451K items last year.
The short version on Sparta’s library
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 82% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 55% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Georgia pays a big share
35% of the budget comes from the state, and 56% 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; Sparta’s library is a branch of Azalea Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (199,682 people), not just the Sparta branch.
What’s behind Sparta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sparta is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. Sparta is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Sparta’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Azalea Regional Library System spends $18 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
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 Sparta
1.8 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.1%
2.1% of Sparta’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 Sparta’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Azalea Regional Library System serves 199,682 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Azalea Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
451K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
100,428 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 24 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
Hancock County Library, 8984 East Broad Street, Sparta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Azalea Regional Library System branch.
New in Sparta? 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 Sparta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.6M 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 87,739 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hancock County Library is one branch of Azalea Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 199,682 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 Sparta
Does Sparta have a public library?
Yes: Hancock County Library, 8984 East Broad Street, is a branch of Azalea Regional Library System, which serves 199,682 people. The branch is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Azalea 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 Sparta’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sparta’s civic life grade?
D− Sparta 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 Sparta.
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.