Photo: Steve Meirowsky (Wikipedia) (Flickr) · CC BY-SA 3.0Florence’s library runs 89 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Florence Public Library serves Florence’s 384 residents. Last year it lent 459 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,144 visits.
The short version on Florence’s library
Open only about 15 hours a week
Florence Public Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Florence Public Library serves 384 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
A place to get online
Florence Public Library logs about 10 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 9.5 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Florence Public Library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 89% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Florence’s civic life grade
Florence isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Florence Public Library serves 384 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Florence Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
459 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 3,959 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
20 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
34 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Florence Public Library, 324 Main St., Florence.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Florence? 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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Florence cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $14K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $20K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14K 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 144 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florence | Florence Public Library | 1.2 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Doyle Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fairplay Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Florence
Does Florence have a public library?
Yes. Florence Public Library, 324 Main St., serves Florence’s 384 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Florence Public Library 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 Florence’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Florence’s civic life grade?
Florence isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Florence.
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.