Hurley’s library is a branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Hurley’s library is the East Central Public Library, a branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, which serves 172,008 people and lent 425K items last year.
What stands out about East Central Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hurley’s civic life grade
Hurley isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Hurley
Hurley is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
4.5%
4.5% of Hurley’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical Mississippi 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 Hurley’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Jackson-George Regional Library System serves 172,008 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jackson-George Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
425K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
63,028 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 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
East Central Public Library, 21801 Slider Road, Moss Point.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jackson-George Regional Library System branch.
New in Hurley? 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 $1.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hurley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.6M 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 136,601 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. East Central Public Library is one branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 172,008 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 Hurley
Does Hurley have a public library?
Yes: East Central Public Library, 21801 Slider Road, is a branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, which serves 172,008 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson-George 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 Hurley’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hurley’s civic life grade?
Hurley isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Jackson-George Regional Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Hurley.
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.