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Marble HeadMarble Head · Photo: Linda Roy Walls · CC BY-SA 4.0
North County Branch · part of Caroline County Public Library

Greensboro’s library is a branch of Caroline County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 61% of systems its size

Greensboro’s library is the North County Branch, a branch of Caroline County Public Library, which serves 33,386 people and lent 127K items last year.

101 Cedar Lane, Greensboro 21639 · about 31 hours a week
D−Civic lifeAhead of 3% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (410) 482-2173 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
127K
3.8 per resident
Visits a year
97K
2.9 per resident · Above typical (2.6)
Programs & events
141
about 3 a week · 4,862 attended
Cardholders
29%
9,587 cards
Open
31 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

The short version on Greensboro’s library

Few programs for a library this size

The Caroline County Public Library system offered 141 programs last year, 4.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓

Maryland pays a big share

24% of the budget comes from the state, and 64% 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; Greensboro’s library is a branch of Caroline County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (33,386 people), not just the Greensboro branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Greensboro’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greensboro is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns. Greensboro 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.

D−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Greensboro’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureDCommunity nonprofits1.3 per 1,000 residents · MD towns 4.1 · U.S. 3.7DVolunteering4.7% of adults 25–44 · MD towns 6.2% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 3%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $40K–$67K (6,012)Ahead of 4%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$67K) 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. Greensboro is small (1,962 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

4 community nonprofits are registered in Greensboro

1.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.15 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation00.15 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services00.15 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.34 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.15 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.34 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

4.7%

4.7% of Greensboro’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.2% in the typical Maryland 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 Greensboro’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures

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

Visits per resident 2.9 visits · typical 2.6Higher than 57%
Borrowing per resident 2.9 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 61%
Digital borrowing 0.9 e-items · typical 1.2Lower than 61%
Kids’ borrowing 0.7 kids’ items · typical 1.7Lower than 78%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.3Lower than 82%
Programs offered 4.2 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Bottom 10%
Cardholders 29% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 73%
Spending $59 per resident · typical $40Higher than 71%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Caroline County Public Library serves 33,386 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 23 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Caroline County Public Library system. The library’s own count.

97K
visits
2.9 per resident
127K
loans, print + digital
3.8 per resident
141
programs & events
4,862 attended
9,587
library cards
29% of people served
Every open hour23items borrowed
Every week94people at a program
Every day124Wi-Fi sessions
19 staff (full-time equivalent)34 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

127K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

127Kloans
Books & media (adults) 59%Kids’ books & media 17%E-books, audio & streaming 23%
From your couch

29,603 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 1 kids’ program a week

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

Schools in Greensboro →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–535
Ages 6–1121
Teens17
Adults23
All ages45
Little ones
0.7

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

22K
kids’ books & media borrowed
4,862
people at programs
141
programs
The building

Find it

North County Branch, 101 Cedar Lane, Greensboro.

Directions(410) 482-2173
31
hours open a week
3,797
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Caroline County Public Library branch.

New in Greensboro? 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 $1.11 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greensboro 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
$59 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.

Local taxes 64%State 24%Federal 1%Gifts & other 11%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 9,587 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. North County Branch is one branch of Caroline County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 33,386 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 Greensboro

Does Greensboro have a public library?

Yes: North County Branch, 101 Cedar Lane, is a branch of Caroline County Public Library, which serves 33,386 people. The branch is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Caroline 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 Greensboro’s library?

It logged 2.9 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Greensboro’s civic life grade?

D− Greensboro is ahead of 3% 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 Greensboro.

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.