Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Thomson

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Thomas E. Watson HouseThomas E. Watson House · Photo: Michelle Zupan · CC BY-SA 4.0
Thomson-Mcduffie County Library · part of Bartram Trail Regional Library System

Thomson’s library is a branch of Bartram Trail Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 81% of systems its size

Thomson’s library is the Thomson-Mcduffie County Library, a branch of Bartram Trail Regional Library System, which serves 33,056 people and lent 61K items last year.

338 Main Street, Thomson 30824 · about 42 hours a week
DCivic lifeAhead of 10% of U.S. towns · #161 of 222 in Georgia. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (706) 595-1341 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
61K
1.8 per resident
Visits a year
59K
1.8 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
244
about 5 a week · 5,561 attended
Cardholders
27%
8,879 cards
Open
42 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

Thomson’s library, in brief

Below typical on every measure

Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Bartram Trail Regional Library System sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓

Georgia pays a big share

45% of the budget comes from the state, and 47% 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; Thomson’s library is a branch of Bartram Trail Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (33,056 people), not just the Thomson branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Thomson’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Thomson is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #161 of 222 in Georgia. Thomson is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Thomson’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

D
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Thomson’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureC+Community nonprofits3.2 per 1,000 residents · GA towns 2.8 · U.S. 3.7D−Volunteering2.5% of adults 25–44 · GA towns 4.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 10%
FewerMore
Georgia towns we grade (222)Ahead of 28%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $32K–$53K (2,601)Ahead of 15%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$53K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Thomson is small (6,763 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

22 community nonprofits are registered in Thomson

3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.18 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation30.41 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans60.95 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services20.35 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.18 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health30.47 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.18 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other30.41 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

2.5%

2.5% of Thomson’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 Thomson’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.8 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 69%
Borrowing per resident 1.4 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 81%
Digital borrowing 0.4 e-items · typical 1.2Lower than 81%
Kids’ borrowing 0.6 kids’ items · typical 1.7Lower than 79%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.3Lower than 78%
Programs offered 7.4 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Lower than 81%
Cardholders 27% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 76%
Spending $26 per resident · typical $40Lower than 71%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Bartram Trail Regional Library System serves 33,056 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bartram Trail Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.

59K
visits
1.8 per resident
61K
loans, print + digital
1.8 per resident
244
programs & events
5,561 attended
8,879
library cards
27% of people served
Every open hour10items borrowed
Every week107people at a program
Every day113Wi-Fi sessions
11 staff (full-time equivalent)60 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

61K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

61Kloans
Books & media (adults) 43%Kids’ books & media 34%E-books, audio & streaming 23%
From your couch

13,938 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 3 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Thomson →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–556
Ages 6–1186
Teens20
Adults82
All ages0
Little ones
1.1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

21K
kids’ books & media borrowed
5,561
people at programs
244
programs
The building

Find it

Thomson-Mcduffie County Library, 338 Main Street, Thomson.

Directions(706) 595-1341
42
hours open a week
14,409
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bartram Trail Regional Library System branch.

New in Thomson? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.27 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Thomson cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$26 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $855K.

Local taxes 47%State 45%Gifts & other 8%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $855K 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 8,879 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Thomson-Mcduffie County Library is one branch of Bartram Trail Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 33,056 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 Thomson

Does Thomson have a public library?

Yes: Thomson-Mcduffie County Library, 338 Main Street, is a branch of Bartram Trail Regional Library System, which serves 33,056 people. The branch is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Bartram Trail 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 Thomson’s library?

It logged 1.8 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Thomson’s civic life grade?

D Thomson is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #161 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 Thomson.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.