Grice Inn · Photo: Jud McCranie · CC BY-SA 4.0Wrightsville’s library is a branch of Oconee Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 85% of systems its size
Wrightsville’s library is the Harlie Fulford Memorial Library, a branch of Oconee Regional Library System, which serves 88,648 people and lent 127K items last year.
Wrightsville’s library, in brief
The Oconee Regional Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Oconee Regional Library System records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
46% of the budget comes from the state, and 46% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Oconee Regional Library System offered 383 programs last year, 4.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 383 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Wrightsville’s library is a branch of Oconee Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (88,648 people), not just the Wrightsville branch.
What’s behind Wrightsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wrightsville is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #129 of 222 in Georgia. Wrightsville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Oconee Regional Library System spends $18 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($26K–$43K) 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Wrightsville
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
6.2%
6.2% of Wrightsville’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 Wrightsville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Oconee Regional Library System serves 88,648 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oconee Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
127K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
20,788 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Harlie Fulford Memorial Library, 2456 West Elm Street, Wrightsville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Oconee Regional Library System branch.
New in Wrightsville? 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 $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wrightsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 24,738 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Harlie Fulford Memorial Library is one branch of Oconee Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 88,648 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 Wrightsville
Does Wrightsville have a public library?
Yes: Harlie Fulford Memorial Library, 2456 West Elm Street, is a branch of Oconee Regional Library System, which serves 88,648 people. The branch is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oconee 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 Wrightsville’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wrightsville’s civic life grade?
D Wrightsville is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #129 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 Wrightsville.
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.